Saving my blood by sacrificing it
by mightygamer64
Summary: When his younger brother Kazuya is chosen to go as a sacrifice to the beast's mansion, Hiroshi volunteers to go with him. They now have to stay together and hang on to their lives in order to be part of the three children allowed to escape. Hunger Games inspired fic
1. Chapter 1

**_To prevent confusion, some names in this story are modified: Hiroshi, Takeshi and Takuro from version 1.1 will be called Hiroto, Takashi and Takero._  
**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Hiroshi entered the forest near his house. He walked down the dirt path, trying to be as silent as possible to not disturb the peace of the woods. The sun gently shone over the trees, giving the leaves a bright green color. There wasn't any wind today so it was warm in here, a comfortable temperature. Some squirrels were jumping trees to trees, like if they were playing a game of tag with each other while the birds were signing a happy and cheerful melody, flying around the tall trees.

Once he was near a small bridge over a rather calm river, the gray-haired took a look around him to be sure no one was there. He knew nobody would be here today, but it was still a good idea to make sure he was not seen. Everyone would be with their families, they knew it might be the last day they saw their loved ones. Some students would surely skip school today! Hiroshi wasn't really surprised, it happened every two years. Seeing he was alone in here, he entered some bushes, going out of the dirt path. He started to run through the trees in a straight line for a good thirty seconds before he made a little pause by walking instead. He reached another part of the river. It was a good place to relax and stay away from the rest of the town. Sometimes, he'd make a fire at night with some friends. Hiroshi put his feet on the small flat rocks and took one. He spotted a silver-haired child backing him and sitting on the only big and non-flat rock. He approached the kid that didn't seem to have noticed him yet.

"I knew I'd find you here, Kazuya." Said the teen once he was just behind his brother.

The little boy turned and made a small smile.

"Oh, hey Hiroshi." He said.

He seemed lost in his thoughts. The gray-haired threw the rock in the water that bounced three times and then put his hand on his brother's shoulder.

"C'mon, let's get home, mom will get worried." He said with a bright smile.

Kazuya nodded and stood up. Realization suddenly hit Hiroshi.

"Oh crap! School starts early today! We'll be late!"

He then showed his back to the silver-head that climbed on it and started to run away from the river. Depending of the days of the week school was starting at one o'clock in the afternoon or two o'clock. Today, Thursday, it started at one.

"Clear?" Asked Hiroshi once they were near the bushes next to the dirt path.

"Clear!" Answered Kazuya before his older brother would go through the bushes.

Once they were back on the dirt path, they followed it, leading them outside of the forest. Hiroshi ran toward their house, not so far from the woods so they could get their stuff. The teen let the silver-head climb off his back before opening the door and coming in the house, panting. Their mom, Etsuko, greeted them with a smile. Kazuya darted to his room and grabbed his schoolbag. He then got in Hiroshi's room and took his brother's bag.

"You can take your time, we're a bit early!" Said Hiroshi.

The child poked his head out of the gray-haired's room.

"_Early_? You said we'd be _late_!" He said with a confused frown.

Their mother giggled.

"I think Hiroshi's watch is too early again!" She said as she unstrapped it from her son's wrist to arrange the time on it. "You won't be late but don't be too slow."

Kazuya brought the two bags and set them aside to put on his shoes. The teen loosened his scarf and rearranged his glasses before putting his watch back on, now showing the correct time, one minus ten. Etsuko hugged the two boys before they exited the house to go to school. While they were walking, Hiroshi noticed his little brother had the same lost-in-thoughts expression he had back at the river.

"Is there something bothering you?" He asked.

The silver-haired scratched his neck and looked away, a gesture the teen knew as a _yes_.

"I'm just worried about tomorrow..." Answered the child.

Hiroshi smiled.

"Don't worry about that! The chance they take a child of your age is one in a hundred! Take you? One in a billion! It's impossible they take you!"

Kazuya smiled, a bit reassured and Hiroshi looked away, his smile faded. There was still that one chance in the billion... He shook his head. He shouldn't worry himself for nothing. They took only children that didn't behave, children that no one would miss.

When they arrived in the school, the boys splited toward their classes. The teen arrived to his math class where he met some friends, Shun and Shura, two twins. Shun was a rather calm and hardworking boy while Shura was a direct and sadistic girl. Both had black hair and a really pale skin with brown eyes having a reddish tint. Younger students from another class already asked them to play as vampire twins for a movie project they had to do. Remembering how fun the project was, they didn't refuse. Hiroshi saw the short movie and he had to admit that it was pretty cool.

"Hey guys! Where's Rin?" He said, referring to the fourth person in their group.

Shura shrugged.

"You know her... She was probably so stressed about tomorrow that she stayed at home." She said with a relaxed tone.

"Too bad our parents know we don't get stressed before the last minute." Said Shun with a sigh, "It would've been a good excuse to stay home."

"What about you, Hiroshi?" Asked Shura. "You're a really good actor when you want; you didn't try to convince your mom to let you stay?"

Hiroshi shook his head.

"I don't want my brother to worry. If I act normal, he'll probably think it's no big deal."

"Pretty smart..." Said Shun.

"So you think spreading a positive atmosphere will determine if you're chosen or not?" Asked Shura. She then chuckled. "That's not your type Hiroshi; you're not superstitious!"

"I never said I was." Replied the gray-haired calmly. "I just don't want to pressurize him."

A bell rang. The class was starting in three minutes. The twins grabbed their math stuff and walked toward their class.

"School's mean..." Complained Shun, "They canceled science class for that conference... Why not math?"

"Nah," Replied Shura, "It's fine with science class..."

"Well, science or math, it doesn't change anything," Said Hiroshi, "They'll still repeat the beast's legend. I'd rather have a normal day."

The three teens entered the class and sat down. Hiroshi opened his schoolbag and got out his stuff when the bell rang again, indicating that the class was starting. The teacher, Mr. Murakami, didn't really seem to hear it. In fact, he looked just like he was asleep with both of his eyes opened. Shura, who was at the front, snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. He blinked a couple of times and stood up.

"Sorry... Umm... Open your manual at page fifty-eight." Said the teacher, clearly thinking about something else.

He took a chalk and wrote on the board what they would see today.

_Homothetic transformations_

Everybody in the class noticed the teacher didn't write a beautiful capital letter like he usually did. He also used to draw something on the board every day (He could've been an art teacher) and to lean on the board when he was writing. Plus, he didn't even say that phrase every student knew him for: _Hey hey, good day guys! I hope I won't be too boring today!_

Something was definitely wrong. The class today was pretty boring. Normally, Mr. Murakami was giving examples easy to remember because he was using references of games or popular music with those and sometimes trailed off the subject just because he felt like saying something funny but today, he was only explaining and making a problem on the board as an example. Hiroshi didn't really listen. He was tired. He couldn't help but smile seeing his teacher. Mr. Murakami was so tall; he almost had to bend to pass through the doors! Students called him _giant_. He didn't really mind. In fact, he liked the nickname.

Shun raised his hand.

"Mister, how old is your little girl, again?" He asked.

"Eight."

Eight years old, Kazuya's age. She could be chosen now.

"I'm sorry." Said the teen sympathetically.

The teacher didn't answer as he continued his lesson. He finished the talking part and gave the exercises.

"Do we have to finish this at home?" Asked a student.

Mr. Murakami shook his head as a _no _and the teens started to work. Hiroshi finished his work rapidly and started reading for the fifteen minutes left.

The bell rang. Everybody took their things and exited the class except Shun that walked toward the teacher's desk.

"I'm sure your daughter won't be chosen." He said.

The teacher made a sad smile and the black-haired exited the class to join Shura and Hiroshi that were waiting for him. They got to their lockers, put their things in and walked to their science class. Since the door was opened, they got in and sat at the back, where their seats were. The first bell rang and some students came in the class. The substitute entered the class with a projector. The conference was in the auditorium but only the younger ones were going there, the older ones were listening to it in their classes. Hiroshi couldn't help but think about the science teacher. The teen understood why she wasn't there. Her son had been chosen last time, he died.

The man in the screen started talking. The gray-haired didn't listen at all, he already knew the story. A demon appeared in the middle of the night. It destroyed a whole town in a mere ten minutes. The authorities were able to lock up the monster in an abandoned mansion. When everyone thought it was gone like it had appeared, it broke the barrier that was keeping it inside. Fifteen children were its victim. Only three of them made it out alive but they got serious wounds and scars. The authorities were able to get it back in again. They then understood it wanted some sacrifices to stay calm. They tried giving it some adults that volunteered but it only became more aggressive; it wanted children. To try to minimize the loss, they gave it violent or hopeless children, the ones none would miss. That is why every two years, the authorities choose fifteen children around the country and give them as a sacrifice to the beast. Three children have a chance to escape at the end but for now, only one ever escaped. He was in the very first group. He was still alive; his name was Hiroto. Of course, now he was thirty-two. He still had a really long scar that started from the left side of his forehead, passed on his eye and ended at the bottom of his left cheek. It gave the teen goosebumps when he saw the scar; it looked like it was still painful.

The bell pulled him out of his thoughts. He stood up with Shun and Shura before they exited the class and got back at the entrance.

"So, what about a movie Saturday?" Asked Shura.

The two boys nodded.

"I'll tell Rin." Volunteered Shun.

When the twins spotted their dad's car outside, they waved goodbye and headed out. Hiroshi sat on a bench, waiting for his brother. Kazuya arrived a minute later, with his bag on his shoulder. The boys walked out of the school to head back home.

"What do you think the beast looks like?" Asked Kazuya curiously.

"That's a good question..."

Hiroshi didn't answer, wondering how it would look like. He didn't really put an appearance to it.

"I never thought of anything except a pair of red eyes." Finally answered Hiroshi. "What do _you_ think it looks like?"

"I don't have any idea, that's why I asked you!" Said the child with a smile.

He then lost it immediately.

"Still... That story is scary..."

They opened the door leading in their house and closed it behind. They were greeted by their mom and their dad, who came home earlier today. His dad was part of the police. His main role was to keep an eye on the mansion where the monster was locked in and he participated in special operations sometimes. The job was well paid but he couldn't be home very often because of it. He would probably be working tomorrow too. Well, at least he was there now so they would be able to have an evening all together!

* * *

Kazuya came in his older brother's room. It was dark in here but he could still see. It was dark everywhere in the house anyway. He walked to Hiroshi's bed, his heart still beating fast. He gently shook the teen.

"Hiroshi..." Whispered the boy, hoping to wake him up.

Since he was a light sleeper, the gray-haired immediately woke up.

"What is it?" Asked the teen with a sleepy voice.

"A nightmare..." Said the kid.

Hiroshi sat up in his bed and tapped the part of the mattress next to him to invite Kazuya to climb on the bed, which he did. The teen put his arm around his brother's shoulder.

"Tell me, what was that nightmare?" Asked the gray-haired.

"I was in a huge house." Started Kazuya. "I was holding a candle, my only source of light and I had to find something but I don't remember what. Also I knew that if the fire disappeared, I would die. Something was pursuing me, but I had no idea what it was. I wasn't able to run, my legs were too heavy. I got grabbed and the candle blew out. I felt like I was dragged and then I woke up."

Hiroshi smiled.

"Hey don't worry! Just keep in mind it was only a dream and it'll be fine. Try to go back to sleep now, okay?"

"Can I stay?" Asked the child.

The teen took his second pillow and gave it to his brother.

"Be my guest!"

The boys lay down and Kazuya snuggled closer to the teen.

* * *

**Thanks to DatLittleStar for the title and the inspiration!  
**

**Please leave a review and see you next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The sun got right in Hiroshi's eyes. The gray-haired sat up in his bed and spotted Kazuya still sleeping next to him. Since the sun had decided that Hiroshi wouldn't sleep any longer, he got up, being careful to not wake his brother up. It was eight in the morning, too early for him. He took his cell phone, put on his glasses and got out of his room, knowing complaining wouldn't change anything. He sat on a chair of the dining room and stayed there a moment, not making a sound. He was used to be the last one to wake up; it was pretty rare for him to be in the house while it was silent like that.

A sound from his cell phone caught his attention. Shun just texted him. He wasn't surprised though. Shun was the early-type as much as Shura was the late-type. He was asleep at ten maximum and awaken at half-past-seven while Shura was still on her laptop at three in the morning and asleep at eleven o'clock. Hiroshi picked his phone and looked at the text.

**Hey, could you call Rin? She's not answering to me.**

The gray-haired pressed on "answer".

_Sure, but I don't think it'll be any different with me._

**Wow. Never thought you'd be up that early.**

_The sun got in my face._  
  
**It's sure Rin picks up if you call her.  
**  
_What? Why?  
_  
**If she could only use her tongue to answer one of your texts, she'd answer with a perfect grammar, it's more than sure she'll answer a call!  
**  
_Uh... Okay..._  
  
**Man, you're so blind. Even Shura noticed it.  
**  
_Noticed what?_

It took a while for Shun to answer._  
_  
**You're joking, right?**

_No..._  
  
**You should think about using your brain out of school too...**

_?_  
  
Since he didn't get any answer, he put down his phone on the table and took out the book he read in math class yesterday. He sat back on the chair and started reading, he'd call Rin around ten, when she'd be awake.

* * *

Hiroshi got back in his room with his cell phone. Kazuya was eating with their mom. It was half past ten. The teen browsed throughout his contact list until his eyes met with the letters forming the name _Rin_. He selected the contact and the phone started calling on her cell phone. Five seconds later, he could hear Rin's voice.

"Hey, Hiroshi!" She said.

"Hey! Shun, Shura and I thought about going to the movies Saturday. You're coming?"

"Well of course! Do you know what we'll watch?"

"No, but knowing Shun, he's looking at movie trailers to find one!"

The girl giggled.

"You weren't at school yesterday?" Said Hiroshi.

"No, I was shaking so much that my legs didn't support me anymore!" She answered in a half-humoristic tone.

"You shouldn't worry about that. I'm more than sure you won't be chosen!" He said. "I mean, you're nice, respectful, hardworking, smart and you're in a gang! It's pretty much everything to put you on a "don't choose" list!"

Rin stayed silent for a moment.

"...Thanks..." She finally let out.

Even though he couldn't see her face, the teen could bet she was smiling.

"Did I miss anything?" Asked the girl.

"No, we just saw more homothetic transformations. Mr. Murakami was really down too. His daughter can be chosen now."

"I doubt she did anything bad, he shouldn't worry. She's _the giant's_ daughter after all!"

Hiroshi chuckled but soon turned back serious.

"There is still a very slight chance though. If they don't find enough bad kids, they just take a name randomly."

"Yeah, but it is really rare."

Hiroshi heard another voice in his phone. Probably Rin's dad.

"Sorry, I have to help my mom with the cooking..." She said after a couple of seconds.

"Oh, okay! I'll see you tomorrow then!"

"Yeah! Bye, Hiroshi!"

"Bye!"

He hung up and put the phone on his desk. He lay down on his bed. He didn't notice anything special about Rin. Maybe Shun and Shura jumped to conclusions too fast. Or maybe he _was_ blind after all... He closed his eyes for a moment and fell asleep.

* * *

A rather loud knock on his door woke him up. Kazuya opened the door and poked his head in.

"Mom said it started!" Said the child.

Hiroshi opened an eye.

"Ok, I'm there in a second..." He answered before closing his eye again.

The silver-haired nodded and closed the door. The teen didn't move for a second but rapidly got up, knowing he might fall asleep again. He stood up and stretched. He grabbed a jacket that he put on top of his shirt and exited his room to join Kazuya and Etsuko in the living room. He sat down on the couch and looked at the television in front of them.

A man approached the microphone, tapped on it to be sure it was working and began talking. Hiroshi didn't listen at all. It was an introduction, a boring part. Well, nothing of this was exciting anyway. The man looked really wealthy. He was wearing a tuxedo with a golden-colored tie. His curly hair looked like it had just been arranged by a professional haircutter. It probably did.

"And now, allow me to tell you the name of the fifteen chosen ones!" The man said which caught Hiroshi's attention.

The man took out a sheet from his pocket and read the first name.

"Megumi Okada!"

The screen switched to two guards opening a door. Cameras were usually waiting for the kid to be named before entering and recording the reaction. Well, it was probably to show who the chosen one precisely was but the reaction was also filmed in the process anyway. The girl the camera showed was a girl Hiroshi saw a couple of times in the street. She was said to be a little "I'm sooo rebel" kind of girl. Looks like it pissed off too much people this time. Of course, she refused to go. She tried to get away but the guards were used to reactions like those, she didn't stand a chance. The screen switched back to the man.

"Hokona Fujii!"

The television showed a girl with a very surprised expression. She was probably from another city, he never saw her. Her parents got really mad, they tried to take their daughter back but it was no use. The man was shown again.

"Takashi Kudo!"

The screen switched to a spiky haired boy. He looked terrified. He didn't try to fight but it was obvious that he wanted to push away the guards and run away. Hiroshi never saw him too. The man reappeared on the screen.

"Yuuko Ota!"

As soon as the camera entered the girl's house, she started sobbing. A little boy behind, probably her brother, asked his mom why his sister was crying and why men were taking her away. The screen switched to the man again.

"Kenta Hotaru!"

A blue-haired boy appeared on the screen. He had the common reaction. He didn't seem to realize what was going on, like if he thought he was still asleep, that his nightmare would stop soon. Hiroshi knew him a little bit. He was always drawing alone; he didn't seem to like crowds. Kazuya grabbed the teen's arm, obviously starting to feel uneasy about this. The man appeared again.

"Mika Haru!"

Hiroshi immediately recognized the girl. She was often with that other girl: Megumi. They were both the same, trying to act rebellious for no reason. Probably due to her nervosity, she screamed when the guards came in the house. She even ran to her room and closed the door, yelling she wouldn't go at the mansion. Before the image of the guards getting her out would appear, they switched for the man.

"Myo Iwasaki"

They saw a brown-haired girl crying and clutching to her dad. Hiroshi looked away, feeling particularly uneasy with this reaction. She was maybe ten. Kazuya looked at his brother with a scared expression.

"Is it _that_ horrible to be taken there?" He asked with a shaky voice.

The teen didn't answer and looked away which didn't reassure his brother at all.

"Naoki Miura!" Said the man at the screen.

A black-haired boy was seen. He didn't seem shocked at all, but he did look sad. By the look on his face, Hiroshi could bet that he was repeating himself why he had been chosen. The gray-haired didn't recall seeing him though.

"Takuro Hayashi!"

This one had been involved in a bank robbery last year. Nobody really knew if it was by will or not except the police. Looks like it wasn't against his will. Aside from that, Hiroshi didn't know him. There was Takuro's older brother behind, complaining. It wouldn't change anything though since he was eighteen now, he was considered as an adult, he couldn't do anything for his younger brother. It touched a sensitive chord. He didn't want to know what it was like to see a loved one taken away. It was like if Kazuya was chosen.

"Kaori Sano!"

The girl shown didn't hesitate to swear and insult the guards. She was at the gray-haired's school. She was known to be a really mean girl, especially with teachers and very young students. When she began to look at Kazuya with a hungry beast's look, Hiroshi stopped her in the hallway and warned her to never look at his brother like that. The teen could be really intimidating and convincing while using words. Maybe because he was really tall... Well, at least she immediately stopped looking at his brother like if he was a meal.

"Takeshi Shimizu!"

The blonde boy that the screen showed didn't look surprised at all. He had a sad gaze but not a grieving one, more like if he'd been waiting for this moment for years. A bit like someone that was about to commit suicide after a long reflexion. He stood there, not fighting at all. He had already accepted his fate.

"Riku Arai!"

The girl shown panicked when the camera entered her house. She screamed, cried and begged to let go. She fought back, she looked more than terrified to go there. Kazuya closed his eyes; he didn't want to look anymore. Hiroshi wrapped an arm around the child's shoulders to try to comfort him even if he knew it wouldn't be enough for now.

"Takero Kujima!"

Just by the name, Hiroshi recognized the red-haired. He was a bully at school, a real jerk that made fun of the others. He already took Kazuya as a target. It was the first time and the last time that the gray-haired got into a fight. Nobody made fun of his brother! Takero looked really mad but he didn't try to fight.

"Ryota Aoki!"

This one got a really rare reaction. He was smiling. Not a nervous smile, a satisfied one, like if he really wanted to go. Well, it wasn't surprising at all from _this_ one. He was really violent. He was often getting in brawls, insulted others and he was also rumored to have killed someone in a fight six month ago. He looked really intimidating, Hiroshi had to admit it. Plus, he was Takero's friend so he was part of the bullying. The screen switched back to the man that read out loud the name of the last chosen one.

"And Kazuya Ryuuzu!"

* * *

**Sorry, the chapter was short!  
I couldn't help but imagine Dr. Sweets from _Bones_ as the man on the T.V. X)  
**

**So, please leave a review and see you next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Hearing his name, Kazuya squeezed Hiroshi's arm and tears appeared in his pale eyes. Etsuko covered her mouth with her hand. The front door opened and guards entered the house. The child hugged the teen in fear. The men were really intimidating; the gray-haired had to admit it. Before they would take his little brother away, he put his arms around the child and gave a defying look to the men.

"You won't take him!" He said with a menacing voice he never thought he had.

The guards weren't intimidated at all.

"You can't change anything." Told him one of the men. "Unless you want to go _with _him."

"Fine, take me!" He exclaimed.

"Hiroshi!" His mom let out.

He gave her a sad look and looked back at the men who seemed surprised. Usually, when they were proposing this, the sibling would hesitate and it would be taken as a _no._ Once the guards were heading out, a _yes _wasn't accepted anymore.

"Follow us." Said one of them.

The teen stood up with Kazuya without looking at his mom, fearing to change his mind when he'd see her. The child didn't let go of his brother's jacket, obviously scared of the masked men. They looked so powerful, so tall, so severe, so... Scary. The boys were guided throughout the streets toward a slightly bigger house. Nobody entered this house except the police or important people. Their dad probably entered one or two times.

Two men opened the double doors and they got in the house. They stopped for a second, staring in awe at the decoration. The floor was made with white marble, giving a shining effect because of the pure color. Each wall had a huge painting on it. The left side had rather creepy paintings. The first one Hiroshi noticed was a painting of Hiroto, the lone survivor of the mansion. The scar on his eye sent shivers down the teen's spine that looked at the paintings on the right side instead. He locked his eyes on the large picture of a girl wearing a beautiful dress. The dress was pale green and had pink ribbons just like the girl's eyes. She was blonde and had pale skin. She looked young and kind, the kind of girl Hiroshi would trust. Actually, she looked a lot like Rin.

"Such a beauty, isn't she?" Said an unknown voice.

The teen turned to see an old-looking man.

"She built this town and this building." Completed the man. "Now, please follow me."

The boys obeyed and walked behind the man who guided them through a set of corridor all as beautiful as the entrance. The man opened a door and gestured to the boys to go in. They walked in and the man closed the door. Hiroshi turned the knob but it blocked. Looks like the man locked the door. The gray-haired turned and took a look around the room. The walls were a dark red, the same color as the two couches in the middle of the room. Whoever designed this room wanted the ones in to be comfortable.

Kazuya sat on one of the couches. His nervosity got the best of him and he started sobbing. The teen sat down next to him and hugged his younger brother.

"At school, everybody said that people who went there all died." Managed to say the silver-haired. "I thought it was nothing to worry about since _you_ didn't worry about it."

The boy paused to let out another sob.

"But you looked terrified when you heard my name! Does that mean the ones at school were right?"

The child started shivering so much that the teen could feel him shake.

"But I don't want to die!" He exclaimed as he continued sobbing.

Before Hiroshi could reply anything, a clicking noise was heard at the door and their mother came in. Looks like their dad hadn't been given a break to say goodbye. Etsuko wiped away her younger son's tears and hugged the crying kid. She then put her hands on his cheeks.

"I don't have a lot of time so listen carefully. Always stay with Hiroshi and do whatever he says, okay?" She said.

Kazuya nodded and she gave him another hug. She stood up and faced the teen.

"Please, stay safe, I don't want to lose both of my sons." She said, blinking away her tears.

"It's okay to cry, mom." He said as he hugged her.

She let go two silent tears that ran down her cheeks.

"Don't leave him alone, okay?" She pleaded.

"I promise I'll do my best to bring him back." He said.

She pulled away so he could see her smile.

"You're so courageous, Hiroshi. I'll always be proud of you!"

The door opened and the older man stepped in.

"Time's up, Miss Ryuuzu." He said.

She gave a last hug to Kazuya that begged her to stay but she couldn't.

"I love you." She said to the boys before the man closed the door and locked it again.

The boys stayed alone for a couple of minutes before the click was heard again. Shun and Shura entered the room.

"That was the most courageous thing I ever saw!" Said Shun.

"You can get out, I know it!" Added Shura.

Hiroshi couldn't help but smile. At least someone was being optimistic.

"I heard there were a lot of puzzles, I'm sure you can handle that!" Said Shun

"Yeah, you love puzzles!" Exclaimed Shura.

The black-haired boy lost his smile.

"Just be careful with that Ryota guy though. He won almost every fight he ever had."

"Almost." Pointed out Shura.

"Still, if it's true that he killed someone, better be careful because I'm sure he would do it again." Said the other twin.

Hiroshi nodded and the door opened.

"Time's up!" Exclaimed the old man.

The twins gave a reassuring look to their friend and exited the room. Hiroshi sighed and blenched when the door opened again. The boys' eyes widen when they saw who was standing at the door. It was Hiroto, the only one that ever escaped the mansion. A shiver passed down the teen's spine when he saw the scar. It looked a lot more horrible and painful than in the paintings and the pictures. The tall man closed the door behind him and approached the teen that bent. He had been told that he needed to show a lot of respect to the adult.

"It's a pleasure to see you here." Politely said the teen.

"Rise." Replied Hiroto.

When he heard the adult's soft but strong voice, Hiroshi completely forgot about the scar. He felt somehow reassured. He rose but still looked down.

"What you did... It was very courageous." Said Hiroto.

The gray-haired didn't answer.

"Whatever happens, don't ever try to think like I would."

Hiroshi looked up, a bit surprised.

"I escaped in selfish ways." Explained the adult. "I didn't hesitate to put people in the monster's way to keep it away from me."

He pointed the long stitch on his eye.

"I didn't get this scar while protecting someone. I had it when someone begged me to help them. I have no merit for escaping this place."

He put a hand on his stitched eye, obviously remembering how he got it.

"I know you can escape without making my mistakes."

Hiroshi stayed silent.

"Never lose him, okay?" Added Hiroto while looking at Kazuya.

The gray-haired nodded while the adult headed for the door. Once he touched the knob, he slightly turned.

"Oh, and don't ever abandon someone. Or you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

The adult then opened the door and exited the room, leaving the two boys alone.

"He's nicer than I thought." Said Kazuya.

"I think it's his scar that makes him look fierce." Replied Hiroshi.

They heard two voices arguing. One had a pleading tone while the other sounded severe. The teen then recognized Hiroto's calm voice. The two others went silent for a second before steps getting closer were heard. The clicking noise was heard and Rin entered the room. The man closed the door behind her with an annoyed look. The blonde girl hugged the gray-haired that stared in surprise for a second before hugging her back. She slowly pulled away after a moment and stared at him in the eyes. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were wet, showing she cried a lot. Another tear rushed down her cheek and Hiroshi wiped it away.

"I don't have a lot of time. I... I need to tell you something..." She said.

The teen looked at her in the eyes, a sign that she knew as _I'm listening_. She sighed and swallowed to push away that ball she had in her throat due to her nervosity.

"I love you."

Before he could react, she took a hold of his hands and put her pink lips against his. His eyes opened wide at the contact. He blushed when she pulled away, still holding his hands. The door opened.

"I can't give you more time. You have to leave." The man said curtly.

Rin backed away, her hand slowly sliding away from his. She looked in his blue eyes one last time and got out of the room, blinking away her tears while the man closed the door. Hiroshi stared at the door for a moment, realizing what just happened. He sat next to Kazuya on the couch and put his hands on his head.

"Does that mean she likes you?" Asked the child.

The teen finally understood what was going on with Rin. She was always getting him when she needed help, she'd always answer his texts and his calls, and she'd be the first one to ask him if he was alright when he'd fall. She was in love with him. He was only realizing it now. Shun was right; he was blind.

"Yes, it does." Answered the teen.

They stayed there a couple of minutes until the door opened again, revealing the man.

"Please follow me." He said.

The boys stood up and exited the room, guided by the man who led them in a set of corridors. They arrived outside by a backdoor. A small train stood in front of them. With an arm movement, the man invited the two of them to enter the train.

"Good luck, boys." Said the man before closing the door behind them.

The room they were in was a sort of living room with a couch a bit farther facing a television that was on the wall. On their left stood two doors. The first one had a panel on it indicating it was a bathroom while the other was a plain door. The teen twisted the knob and entered the room with his brother. There was one big couch making a U-turn at the end of the room where the other chosen ones were sitting. A small shake was felt; the train had started. The two boys sat down next to the others at the end of the couch. The sixteen children stayed in an awkward silence for a couple of seconds until one of the girls, Hokona, spoke.

"So, what got you here?" She asked.

"Well, I guess teachers didn't like me or something..." Said Mika as Megumi approved with a nod to indicate it was the same reason for her.

Takuro, a red-haired, sighed.

"I've been forced in a bank robbery last year. The police thinks I got in by my own will. This is just a mistake." He said with a rather calm tone.

"I think I've been mistaken too." Added Kenta, the blue-haired boy, "I was just drawing, what's so bad in that?"

"Guess you turned anti-social..." Replied a black-haired with cat-like eyes, "I made a prank not so long ago. I hid cats everywhere in the school so when people opened some doors or some closets: Swoosh! Scratched and bitten by a furious little kitty!" The boy then giggled, probably remembering the students' and teachers' reactions.

"Most boring prank ever." Said the spiky-haired, Takashi.

"Huh, you think? So what did _you_ do?" Asked Naoki with a challenging look.

"I already put some fly's eggs in the principal's desk, it took more than a week to kill a couple of them and some eggs haven't hatched. I also broke the majority of lights in the school and when people opened them, sparks were falling from them but yeah, those two were the ones I did last month. They were a bit boring though, I think I ran out of ideas."

While the others started to tell pranks they already made, Hiroshi noticed two chosen ones that were especially silent. A blonde boy, Takeshi, who looked lost in his thoughts and the ten years old girl, Myo who was listening to the others.

"Hey, now that I think about it," Said Hokona to Ryota, "Is it true that you killed someone?"

Ryota smirked.

"You remember that boy that went missing a couple of months ago?"

"Yeah, they found him three weeks ago. He fell off a high cliff. He died on the shock."

"Nope."

Hokona's eyes widened.

"No, you didn't..."

"Yup. I punched him too hard on the head. I tossed him off that cliff to cover it up." He said with a grin.

"Aah, I wish I've been there to see that," Said Kaori, trying to imagine the scene.

Takero put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. He was relaxed, maybe _too_ relaxed.

"I'm known as a bully. Whatever happens in this mansion, I still think it was all worth it!"

He then leaned on his knees and looked at Riku.

"What did _you_ do?" He asked in a mocking tone.

"I swear!" She exclaimed in panic. "I didn't do anything wrong! I shouldn't be here!"

Her eyes filled with water and she ran out of the room. Everybody stared at the door for a second, a bit surprised by her panic until Kaori, Ryota and Takero started laughing.

"Geez! 'Ya talk about a pussy!" Said Kaori.

Hokona frowned.

"She panicked, ok? It happens to everyone."

"Nope, not me!" Replied Takero. "And since you're such a nice _daddy's little girl_, what brought you here?"

She shrugged.

"I lost my temper and I injured badly a girl a month ago. She have kept picking on me since a couple of years, I couldn't ignore her anymore."

Ryota crossed his arms and sighed.

"Meh, I'm sure this beast looks like a giant teddy bear..."

Hokona stood up stretched and exited the room. A couple of seconds later, they heard her gasp. Hiroshi got up and joined her. He looked where she was staring and his eyes opened wide. Riku was there, a part of her vest tied to the sink and the other one around her neck. She just hanged herself.

Another shake was felt. They heard the door leading in the train open. Men stepped in. When they saw the dead body, two of them took it away while the others escorted the chosen ones out of the train where they faced the mansion. Even if the sun was still fully risen, it looked intimidating and pretty creepy. The men guided the children in the small plain, surrounding them to prevent any escape, until they arrived right in front of the mansion. One of the masked men opened the double door and invited the kids to enter with an arm gesture. They obeyed and stepped in.

"Good luck..." Said the man before closing the door.

Hokona reached for the knob but obviously, it was locked. Hiroshi felt an uneasy feeling. It was cold in here, but it didn't make sense since it was really hot outside. Something just wasn't right. The teen grabbed Kazuya's hand. He started to feel his heart beat fast. The other chosen ones seemed pretty relaxed or at least less nervous than him. He took a deep breath. Exit this place would definitely not be easy.

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**Yay! Chapter 3 posted! It felt like forever! (Ok, it was three or four days, but it felt long XD)  
**

**So, please leave a review and see you next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**You may want to know that the mansion is based on the mansion in version 6.23 but there are differences so it's possible that some parts are weird according to the map in the game.**

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**Chapter 4**

The chosen ones all stayed silent for a moment, trying to hear a sound indicating the monster was here. No one dared to move, knowing a single step might be mistaken as the monster. Some didn't seem scared at all and stayed silent more for fun and the creepy ambiance than the actual fear. The sound of a broken plate was heard and the most nervous blenched. They looked at the direction where it was coming from for a couple of second, the right, before Yuuko started to walk in this direction.

"Wait!" Said Myo. "Why are you walking _toward_ the sound?"

"Stay there, it's probably nothing," She replied, walking a bit faster toward the door.

"Of course it's nothing! It's a broken plate! Don't you recognize that sound?" Said Kaori mockingly, crossing her arms.

Yuuko continued her way. The real reason why she was going to see that broken plate was the fact that she preferred to stay away from the others. She was using that sound to start investigating alone. Maybe there would be groups formed and she wanted to stay out of that! She put her hand on the knob and twisted it. She pulled the door open and screamed when an enormous mouth trapped her head in. She kicked thin air for a second before she became limp and her headless body fell on the floor.

The thing in front of them stared at the frozen-in-fear chosen ones for a moment. All sounds seemed to disappear. Everyone could hear their hearts beat in their chests. The beast was tall. It had purple skin, two black eyes. It made a step toward them and opened its mouth showing the numerous rows of blood-stained teeth. A bit farther, on one of the third-row teeth lay a pierced hand...

The majority of the children screamed in fear, snapping Hiroshi out of his trance. He held his brother's hand tighter and darted to the stairs. He climbed them up, the silver-haired behind him barely keeping his balance. He forced the first door on their path to open and ran in. He spotted a closet in the corner. He ran there and opened the double doors. Since nothing was in there, they crawled in and closed the doors. Kazuya hugged Hiroshi and hid his face in his brother's jacket in fear. They heard some quick and light steps out of the room and some voices but not clearly enough to hear what was said. Maybe they were just screaming. They waited a couple of minutes after the steps and the voices went silent, just to be sure. When the teen was about to open the closet so they could get out, they heard the door open. They both froze as the heavy and slow steps got closer. Loud breathing was heard, then other steps and the door closed, leaving a long and stunning silence. Nervosity and fear got the best of Kazuya who started sobbing and held tighter his brother's jacket.

"I don't want to die..." Quietly let out the child.

"You won't die, Kazuya," Said Hiroshi, "Not while _I'm_ here."

The boys stayed in the closet for a moment until Kazuya calmed down. Hiroshi opened the doors and carefully stepped out. Seeing and hearing nothing, he helped his brother to climb out of the closet before taking a look around the room. It was almost empty. The only pieces of furniture were that closet and a desk that looked just about to break in two. The whole room was covered with dust and the wall that had probably once been white had a yellow tint. They walked to the door that was right in front of them and the teen carefully turned the knob. He slowly pushed the door open and stepped out right in front of the stairs with the silver-haired. There was another door a bit farther but the teen went downstairs. He didn't know why, but he felt drawn there. Maybe because the hall was cleaner than the upstairs' hallway, darker because of all that dirt lying on the floors and the walls. He turned right and walked down the hallway where he met with three doors. They heard several steps from upstairs heading toward the staircase. The gray-haired opened the first door on their path and made his brother go in. He heard some groans and loud thuds like a body falling on something. Hiroshi couldn't help but look. The blue-haired, Kenta, landed on the floor, wincing in pain and both of his legs bent in an unnatural way. The beast snatched the boy and banged him on the wall until he stopped moving and left a big red mark on the wall. Hiroshi closed the door behind him quickly but silently. What was he doing? He was very lucky that the monster didn't see him! If he continued staring at events like that, he'd be the next one to die! The teen leaned on the door and looked at his brother who was staring at a bath. It was filled with a thick dark blue liquid.

"What's in there?" Asked Kazuya, a bit scared of the answer.

The gray-haired walked next to the child and wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders. He wasn't really sure if he wanted to look. Judging by the shape the hallway and the room with the closet were in, he knew that whatever would be in the tub would be disgusting. Kazuya spotted a shiny object near the water that had probably fallen from the bath. He picked it up and stared at it for a second. It was a small chain, like a necklace. It was snapped a bit farther from the attachment, just like if it had been pulled off violently from someone's neck.

A loud stomp made the two of them blench and turn around. Hiroshi approached the door carefully, trying to see through the window if the monster was close or just loud while being far. The silver-haired sat on the edge of the bath, not daring to make a sound, even to breathe. Once the teen backed away from the door because he saw nothing, the child let go the oxygen he had kept in his chest for a couple of seconds. The teen sat down next to the child and looked down at the partially wet floor. Kazuya immediately got worried seeing the expression on his brother's face. Hiroshi rarely had this expression unless he saw something unusual, not like a monster but... Well, whatever happened, it wasn't Hiroshi's fault! He just knew it! He grabbed the gray-haired's arm, catching his older sibling's attention.

"What's wrong? I don't like to see you like that." Said the kid.

Hiroshi forced a sad smile. He didn't want to tell his little brother that he just saw the beast bang someone on the wall to death!

"I'm okay, don't worry." He answered as naturally as possible.

"Are you sure?" Asked the boy with a light frown.

"Yes, I'm sure."

The chain slipped off Kazuya's hand and fell in the dark liquid. Not thinking, the boy sticked his hand in to get it back but removed it with a gasp when he touched something weird. He stood up and looked frightfully at the bath.

"Something's in there..." He said, his voice quivering.

Hiroshi looked at the bath. Not a lot of things could possibly fit in, since it was pretty small. It was probably some sort of mold or something like that. He didn't want to see that mold but if he didn't show it to the boy, he might put some weird thoughts in his head. He sticked his hand in and touched something that seemed to be a cap or something similar. The teen pulled it out and the inky liquid started to slowly drain. Since he saw nothing unusual after a good part of the liquid was drained, he turned to his brother, giving him a "you see?" look. Just a second after, the boy made a small yelp and covered his eyes with his hands. The gray-haired looked back at the bath and stood up, shocked by what he was seeing. There was a crushed, dark blue-stained body. It barely fit in the tub thanks to its crushed legs. Hiroshi barely recognized that girl, Hokona. Her eyes were wide, her mouth was full of liquid and opened, giving the illusion she was still screaming in fear and despair. He wanted to look away but his eyes were locked on her face. It sent shivers down his spine, especially knowing this could happen to him or his brother. He finally looked away and didn't dare to give it another look, fearing he'd stare at her for the rest of his life, no matter how short it could be.

He took the child's arm who was too scared to remove his hands from his eyes and guided him out of the bathroom. Hiroshi looked around just to be sure the beast wasn't there before heading out.

"Can I look, now?" Asked Kazuya once the teen had closed the door, "It won't pop in front of me?"

The gray-haired couldn't help but make a small smile.

"Yes, you can."

The boy uncovered his eyes and looked around frightfully, like if he was expecting her to walk out of somewhere and come straight for them. His eyes instead stared at the blood on the wall near the stairs, the mark Kenta left. The child shuddered and turned away, toward his brother. Hiroshi took his hand and guided him through a door at the end of the corridor. They entered and took a quick look around. It was another dirty bathroom, but no inky water-filled bath could be seen this time. The room was divided in two. There was a sink and an empty cupboard next and a toilet at the other side. The room was so dirty, Hiroshi could bet that if there was any water coming out of the sink, it would be dark gray or black. The teen noticed a white bottle—probably the only clean object in the room— on the corner of the sink. He picked it up and looked in it. It looked just like... _Soap_? Hiroshi wasn't sure to understand but he took it anyway, putting it in his pocket. Sometimes, it was better to not ask any questions. That could wash a wound. Not the best to do so, but still something.

Seeing nothing else, he headed toward the door but Kazuya pulled his arm, a scared look on his face. The gray-haired gazed at the door and looked back at his brother, not understanding why he didn't want to go out _that_ much. Sure, they could run into the beast but it wasn't better if they stayed here; the room was a dead end. When he turned back toward the door, his eyes opened wide hearing steps getting closer to them. The silver-haired had heard them before the teen; he always had a better ear. Hiroshi brought his brother to the other side of the wall. The thing would come here for sure; he could hear the steps getting closer. He had to think about something, _now_.

"On my back!" He whispered to his brother who immediately climbed on the gray-haired's back.

Kazuya closed his eyes as soon as the door opened, too frightened to look. The teen forced his heartbeat to calm down and counted to three.

_1... 2... 3!_

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**Sorry for not posting earlier I had been the victim of the writer's block near the end of the chapter!  
Please leave a review and see you in next chapter! Hope I won't get another writer's block! XD**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The teen leaped out of the second part of the bathroom and almost stopped when he saw the beast. He bit the inside of his cheek to not scream and ducked, avoiding the beast's hand trying to grab them. He ran straight for the door and got out of the room. He darted to the stairs and climbed them up as fast as he could. He shot a glance behind him and saw the beast climbing up the stairs. It would see him if he entered the first room in front of them. He made a U-turn, heading to another part of the area he didn't know. He saw another staircase, perfect. He climbed up the stairs again and darted to the door in front of him, at the end of the small hallway. He swung the door open and closed it. He took a quick glance around while Kazuya climbed off his back, finally daring to open his eyes. Besides the usual dirt darkening the floor and the walls, the teen spotted in this pretty empty room a door at the end of the room and a closet in the corner near the door. He took his brother's hand and brought him to the closet. The child crawled in quickly followed by the gray-haired that closed the double door.

Hiroshi put his hand on the boy's mouth just to be sure he wouldn't scream. They waited for a couple of seconds but nothing happened. They stayed still, expecting it to enter at any second. It has been a minute now and their bad crouching position began to be felt in their legs that began to be painful. Maybe it gave up. If it wasn't there in ten seconds, he'd get out. He began counting slowly. Nothing had changed by the time he reached five. He waited five more seconds. Nothing changed. No sound was heard. The teen put his hand on one of the wooden doors, ready to push it open. The door opened just before Hiroshi would get out of the closet, making him blench and almost knock his head on the wood just above him. The teen immediately removed his hand from the wooden doors, thankful to have waited _that_ long. The loud and slow steps got closer. Hiroshi held his brother a bit tighter. If that thing opened the closet, he'd put himself in the way; he had no problem with that as long as the child was okay. The last step he heard was so close, the teen could bet that the beast was just in front of the closet. To confirm his doubts, the steps stopped. The creature slowly passed a hand on the closet making both boys shiver. The steps were heard again, walking to the side of the closet at the same time as its hand passed on the wood. They heard the door next to the closet open, close and immediately, they stopped hearing steps and the hand passing on the wood.

The gray-haired decided to wait a couple of seconds, just to be sure. Hearing nothing, Hiroshi slowly and silently pushed the doors open and got out of the closet. He climbed out and immediately felt a huge relief in his legs. He turned to help his brother climb out but a huge hand grabbed him and threw him violently on the farthest wall from the closet. Hiroshi let out a loud moan at the contact and his body fell heavily on the floor, making him wince in pain. He tried to get up but his painful back kept him down.

The beast turned toward Kazuya who was still in the closet. It approached the shivering boy, slowly opening its mouth to show its long and sharp blood-stained teeth. As its hand got closer to the opening to block it, the child quickly―but rather clumsily because of his shuddering body―climbed out of the closet just before the opening would be blocked thanks to his small body. He ran to his brother's side and grabbed his arm.

"Hiroshi, get up!" He said in panic, "We have to go!"

Hearing the boy's voice, the gray-haired gave himself a boost with his arms, wincing because of his back but still being able to stand up. Kazuya pulled his brother to the door and opened it before he started to run to the nearest room, the one on the wall to their right. The child opened the door and rushed in but soon stopped when he saw it was a dead-end. The teen took the initiative and darted to the two beds in the corner. The boys crouched between the beds and crawled under one. Hiroshi's foot met with a hole. He looked at the hole; that might save them! Even if the floor seemed pretty far, he could easily land but the fall might injure the silver-haired. They'd be okay if he would catch him. He pointed it to his brother and carefully slipped in. He landed on a pale gray floor and looked up, waiting for the boy to slip in too. The silver-haired looked through the hole. He seemed to hesitate a bit. The teen mentally face-palmed. His brother was scared of heights! How could he forget that?

"Kazuya, trust me!" Said Hiroshi as quietly as possible but loud enough for the child to hear it. "I'll catch you, just climb down!"

The boy gulped before slipping in the hole and closing his eyes. Just as he said, the teen caught him and put him on the floor. They knelt in the corner of the surprisingly clean room and looked at the ceiling when they heard the floor crack because of the monster's steps. They both looked up at the ceiling, just like if they could see the beast walk around. Fearing it would look into the hole, the gray-haired lead his brother out of the room, taking a brief look at a piano on the way out. They climbed down the stairs to get as far as they could and got to their left. They entered the first door on their path that led them in a library.

The room was huge. There were full shelves on the walls and a bit everywhere on the floor. This was one of the only rooms that were clean. Any book-lover would call this room paradise. Of course, it would have been paradise for Hiroshi if he wasn't trapped with a beast trying to eat them. They walked farther in the room, their steps making a quiet _thud_ on the reddish wooden floor. It was quiet in here. Almost _too_ quiet. They heard some lights and quick steps on the other side of the shelves and saw someone run where the steps came from. Knowing it couldn't be the monster because the person they saw was normal-sized and had a normal colored skin, Hiroshi walked carefully in the same direction than the person who ran, toward the beginning of the room. They all arrived at the same time in front of the last bookshelf facing the door. The person—who was actually Megumi—made a small yelp when she saw the two boys and raised—probably the first "weapon" she could put her hand on—a hard and heavy-looking book. Her surprised face then turned into a frown and she lowered the book. She looked mad; just like if _they_ were the ones who trapped her in the mansion.

"What were you thinking, you two, running around like that for so long!?" She said, "You wanted to scare me? Well, congrats! You succeeded!"

The teen raised a brow.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"We came in only a minute ago." Kazuya added, obviously confused by her accusations.

She crossed her arms.

"Then who is walking with me without showing up since I came in?" She wondered out loud.

She sighed in annoyance.

"Mika!" She shouted, "If that's you, you have to know this is the most boring joke ever since the beginning of time!"

The gray-haired slowly shook his head. She was scared because someone was running around the room without showing up and she didn't even think about leaving the room? What was the logic in that?

"Well, we're heading out so if you wish to come, you can."

The girl scoffed.

"Like if I'd run around in a mansion with a monster loose... Do whatever you want but I'm not moving!" She said curtly.

"Just asking..."

He turned around to exit when they all heard a very loud and sudden _bang _that made them all blench and turn toward the shelf behind Megumi. They heard another one, another one again and three more. The bookshelf behind the girl started to slowly fall toward her. Some books fell from their shelves, landing on the floor.

"Megumi, watch out!" Hiroshi shouted.

The girl didn't move, frozen in fear in front of the giant wooden object falling toward her. Books landed on her. She covered her head with her arms, snapping out of her trance. Still, it was too late for her. By the time she lowered her arms, she didn't even see the bookshelf. She was crushed half a second later, her body completely disappearing under the bookshelf. A bit farther, at the very end of the room, behind all of those bookshelves that just fell like dominoes stood Takero. The two teens looked at each other in the eyes for a moment until the red-haired spoke up.

"Oops..." He said sarcastically.

Hiroshi clenched his teeth. He didn't know Megumi a lot, he only heard of her or saw her in the street, but what this guy had just done was still unfair and immoral! He just murdered this girl and the only he said about that was _oops_?

"Look, I'd like it if you'd stop staring at me like that so if you have something to say, why don't you say it?" Let out Takero carelessly.

The gray-haired forced himself to keep his calm. Shouting and fighting wouldn't arrange anything. Besides, he didn't want to fight in front of his brother, the child had already seen enough.

"I've gotta deal for you." Said the red-haired.

Hiroshi made a surprised face but immediately frowned. Takero's _deals _were always good only for him. He should call those requests instead.

"We need five deaths to reach the next area."Said the red-haired, "I've counted and with that girl we're at four. What I suggest is that you leave your brother to me and I'll open the new area."

Hiroshi put his arm in front of Kazuya. He was right. Takero's _deals _were good only for him.

"This is the worst deal I ever heard." Let out Hiroshi before heading toward the door.

"He'll die anyway and you know it. I'll make it quick and painless."

The gray-haired didn't even turn or stop. He exited the room and went to the door on their left. The room was divided in two but not by a wall. In fact, nothing separated it except the appearance. The left part had a large counter covered in soot—probably from that weird-looking stove behind—with some cupboards and a sink behind it. The right part had a brown carpet and two once cream-white couches almost forming an L. Kazuya sat on one of them, regardless of the dirt.

"Hiroshi... Is it true what he said?" Asked the child. "That I will die here sooner or later?"

The gray-haired sat down next to the boy and wrapped an arm around the silver-haired's shoulders.

"That's not true; he just wanted to scare you." Said Hiroshi to comfort him.

Kazuya looked down.

"It worked..." He whispered under his breath.

Hiroshi didn't reply; he didn't know _what_ to reply. They stayed in the room for a long moment, staying on their guard in case the beast or someone else would come in.

They began to hear a piano play a slow and rather sad melody. The gray-haired immediately recognized the song. Rin loved it. She wanted to learn piano since she heard that tune, fixing the melody as a long-term goal. She played it at a talent contest organized at school. She almost won. Some guys forming a band won the contest, she got second place. Hiroshi never remembered the name of the song but it was so logical. He'd face-palm each time Rin repeated the title because it was so obvious! Yet, he couldn't manage to remember it, no matter how he tried or how much he heard the name. He did remember one thing though. No matter how much Rin played this tune, she'd never get sick of it and he'd always hear it just like if it was the very first time he listened to the melody.

Even though the piano was obviously not tuned, the song still sounded great. Again, he felt like he never heard it in his whole life. Well, the feeling was logical since he was usually hearing it on a tuned piano. Actually, the vibration coming from the worn out instrument gave another perspective to the melody. It sounded more... Sinister. Hiroshi stood up. He walked toward the door to get back in the main hall. Kazuya followed soon after, absolutely not wishing to be alone. The teen climbed up the stairs, where the song was coming from. He couldn't stop himself from walking toward the room where his brother and he found the piano. It sounded stupid but he thought that when he'd open the door, he'd find Rin playing the melody, careful to not miss or screw up any notes. She'd finish the last lines, look up at him and smile before asking him if she did well. Of course, he'd smile and tell her that she played perfectly. He wished it would be her behind that door separating him from the room where they found the piano. He couldn't help, but tell himself how pathetic he was right now. It was impossible for her to be there. She was safe at home. Even though he told himself this, his hand refused to hear the facts and still got on the door knob before twisting it and pushing the door open.

His mind was right. It always did, Hiroshi always had crappy instincts but a good mind. The one playing on the piano was far to be Rin; it was Ryota. There was somebody else lying on top of the piano. The teen recognized Takuro, hardly breathing. Scientifically speaking, the red-haired was still alive but the way he looked blankly at the ceiling told Hiroshi that his mind was long gone.

Ryota didn't seem to notice the two boys as he continued playing the melody's finale. His hands were blood-stained, leaving red marks on the keys he was pressing. Even though he wasn't the kind of boy you'd picture playing such a calm and beautiful song, he played the tune so perfectly, it was just like if he invented it himself. He played the last three notes and stared at the piano for a couple of seconds before looking up. He locked his cold eyes on the boys and his right arm fell limply on the side, leaving a red mark on the side of his shirt. For a really short―but how scary―moment, Hiroshi felt just like if he was staring at the beast. Ryota took a step toward them, still staring at the teen in the eyes. The small vibration the floor made under the weight made the gray-haired shiver. The room had suddenly turned a lot colder. It was enough to awaken Hiroshi's mind that shouted to the teen to run out of here before Ryota would make another step.

He immediately listened to his inner voice and grabbed Kazuya's arm very tightly. He looked away from Ryota's eyes and opened the door behind them, closing it behind a bit too loudly. The teen guided his brother down the stairs, ran past the library and got back in the kitchen where he closed the door a bit more silently this time. He stared at the door for a moment, like if he was expecting Ryota to swing the door open and attack them.

"Ow! Hiroshi, it hurts!" He suddenly heard his brother say.

The teen hadn't notice that he was still squeezing the kid's arm. He let go of it and Kazuya rubbed it a little, trying to remove the pain. Hiroshi immediately felt bad but also rapidly pushed the feeling away, knowing the pain would go away really quickly.

They heard a loud noise behind the counter. A sudden knock, like if someone banged a knee or something like that. The gray-haired put an arm in front of his brother.

"Show yourself or I'll come!" Said Hiroshi in a tone surprisingly full of self-confidence.

A frail shape shot straight up behind the counter and put his hands in the air, showing he wasn't hiding anything. It was Takashi.

"Look, I don't want to fight!" Exclaimed the spiky-haired boy, his voice quivering a bit.

He looked like he forced himself to not panic. Hiroshi could give quite intimidating looks and he was giving one to Takashi right now. Hearing the scared tone of the other boy, the gray-haired's look softened a bit. The other teen moved away from the counter, his hands still in the air.

"How many died?" Asked the spiky-haired.

"Four, I saw the fifth taking his last breaths upstairs." Answered Hiroshi, feeling uneasy about those deaths.

Takashi's eyes got locked on the door.

"So the area is open!" He said to himself but just loud enough for Hiroshi to hear it.

He then darted to the door, turned the knob and ran out, leaving the two other boys in the room.

"What did he mean?" Asked Kazuya with a confused frown.

The teen grabbed the child's hand, more gently this time.

"It means the next phase started."

* * *

**I got over writer's block! Yaayy!  
**

**Please leave a review and see you next chapter! (Let's hope I won't be writer's block victim again!)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Hiroshi and Kazuya walked down the corridor, toward the main entrance. If Takuro had truly died, the next phase had started but the thing was to find the entrance leading to the next area now. The teen had no idea how he'd find it. They arrived in the main hall in no time since it wasn't far from their previous location. The teen was about to head up the stairs when his brother pulled his sleeve and pointed at a door next to the staircase. He mentally facepalmed at his blindness. The gray-haired also noticed that the door wasn't there when they first entered. It used to be a plain wall. As he was turning the knob to enter the next area, he couldn't help but wonder how the heck this door could've appeared. Was wallpaper covering the door the whole time? This means they could've entered long ago! Hiroshi then remembered about the beast and decided to stop questioning. After seeing such a monster, pretty much everything could be possible, even magically appearing doors. The teen slowly pushed the door open and took a peek inside to see if there was anybody. Since the only thing he saw was a gray wall with an opening, he stepped in with his brother and closed the door behind. The room was really small. There wasn't any furniture in. The only thing they could see was that wall with an opening leading to another similar wall. The teen decided to go in the opening. He didn't want to meet with Ryota or Takero if they opened the door. Once he travelled through the sort of hole-like thing, two paths were possible. Either go to the left or to the right.

_Please, let it not be what I think it is..._ Thought Hiroshi.

He went to the right for no particular reason. The boys walked in the narrow corridor for a couple of seconds until the path separated in two again. The gray-haired took the right path again. It's when he came to another choice of paths that he let out a sigh.

_A maze... Great..._ He thought.

Hiroshi maybe loved puzzles, but he hated mazes. It had nothing to do with the fact that he could get lost. There was a way in and a way out in a maze. Lost or not, the exit could be found; that's pretty much the only motivation he ever needed. It's just that he had a feeling like if he couldn't breathe or he felt sick and he had no idea why. Each time his friends and he would go to that maze on Halloween, he would stay behind and wait for them to get out. He remembered that last year, Rin had decided to wait with him. He never really knew why until a couple of hours ago. She preferred to spend some time alone with him than doing that maze. Hiroshi had to admit that these fifteen minutes with her had really been enjoyable! He remembered her wonderful smile and her gray eyes that seemed to shine somehow. With her white dress to the knees and her false wings, she really looked like an angel. Actually, she didn't really need any costume to look like an angel...

"Is this a maze?" Asked Kazuya, pulling Hiroshi out of his thoughts.

The teen passed a hand on the back of his neck.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"You have your maze face!" Said the child with a little smile.

Hiroshi scoffed and shook his head. He didn't even want to know what his "maze face" looked like. At least, Kazuya liked mazes. The boy decided to take the lead and went in the left tunnel because he felt like it was the good way. He guided the teen throughout the corridors pretty quickly. Actually, he seemed to have fun doing this. Well, still better than shivering and running in fear!

The more they were progressing throughout the corridors, the more Hiroshi felt like the hallways were getting smaller. He felt just like if the walls were closing the way behind, allowing them go only forward. Of course the walls weren't moving at all and they could turn away if they felt like doing so but the teen still felt very uneasy. Kazuya looked like he had forgotten about the beast. He was running through the corridors just like if he made this maze a thousand times. They reached another opening and the gray-haired hoped by all his heart that this was the exit. He bit the inside of his cheek when he discovered this was only a very small room. There was a little board on the wall. Kazuya let go of the teen's hand to go see what it was while the teen sat down a bit. He felt sick, _very_ sick.

The child looked at the panel for a second. There were two small circles―a white one and a black one―and there were some lines forming squares where the circles could be moved around on the lines. The boy put his index on the white circle and moved it on the left. The black dot moved by itself on the right. He snapped his fingers and smiled.

"It's just like _Catch the mouse_!" He thought out loud.

_Catch the mouse_ was a popular game at school. The objective was to swap the mouse and the cat. The mouse moved away and it brought the player to think how to move the cat strategically to move the mouse the right way to trap it and place it correctly. The game was rather tough but some guys who played two much could complete the levels in a mere fifteen seconds. Kazuya moved the white dots to see how the black dot was moving compared to the white circle's movements. It took him a minute to understand a bit the displacements and then he started playing for real. The child moved the white dot around quite rapidly and stopped for a couple of seconds before moving it again. After a while, he stopped again to let out a small yawn and rub his eyes. He was tired but he wanted to finish this first. He doubted Hiroshi would do it since he played the game only twice. It could take half an hour to starters to complete a level. The boy crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, just like if he was giving a challenge to the game before he started again. It took him around ten minutes to complete the puzzle. The panel fell to his feet, revealing a square-formed hole in the wall. Kazuya sticked his hand in it and took out a small object, a lighter. He smiled and turned it on but his thumb got too close to the flame and he soon felt a sharp pain on the tip of his thumb. He made a small yelp and dropped the lighter that turned off by itself before falling on the floor. The kid put the tip of his painful thumb in his mouth and picked up again the lighter but didn't turn it on this time. He then realized something. Hiroshi would've never let him turn on a lighter or even just hold one!

He quickly turned, hoping his brother didn't let him alone. He sighed in relief seeing the teen sitting on the floor but lost the small smile he had when he noticed how pale Hiroshi was. He approached his brother and knelt next to him even though the gray-haired didn't seem to notice it. The teen snapped out of his trance when Kazuya put his hand on his shoulder. Hiroshi looked at the boy and let out a quivering sigh.

"I'm sorry..." Whispered the gray-haired.

The child suddenly felt a ball forming in his throat even if he didn't really know why. He hugged his older brother very tightly―he would've choked Hiroshi if he hugged tighter―and closed his eyes, trying to not cry and to push away the ball in his throat. The teen wrapped his arms around the child and closed his eyes too for a moment but soon opened them since he didn't trust this place. Kazuya looked up and the gray-haired realized his brother looked really tired. He took a quick look at his watch to see it was rather late. Even if he hated this maze and wished to get out as fast as possible, he decided to stay in this room for now. Maybe they needed to get out, but they still shouldn't ignore the fact that they needed to sleep.

He heard a little sound. He looked around to find the source of the noise, aware this could be the beast or someone else. He then realized it was only a lighter that had fallen from Kazuya's hand. The child seemed to have fallen asleep. The teen smiled and took the lighter. He didn't know how his brother got it but it didn't really matter right now; he just wanted him to be safe. He couldn't help but scoff. The child could literally fall asleep _everywhere_. He even once fell asleep in a closet during a late game of hide-and-seek! The gray-haired's eyelids started to get heavy. He shook his head rather violently to wake himself up. It wasn't the good time to fall asleep! He had to look after Kazuya. At least one of them had to be awake in case the beast came. He leaned on the wall and closed his eyes. It couldn't hurt to close them for a minute, right?

Well, he was wrong. It took him only a couple of seconds to fall asleep.

* * *

**Chapter WITHOUT writer's block! Yoo-hoo!  
Sorry this one is a bit short but... well you'll see in the next chapter!  
Please review and see you next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Kazuya opened an eye to find himself in his brother's arms again. He rose a bit to get on his knees. Apparently, he had slept in a bad position because his back was a bit painful. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the panel still lying on the floor, slightly remembering the puzzle. He looked back at Hiroshi who was surprisingly still asleep. Usually, when the child moved a bit, the teen would immediately wake up. It was the very first time that Hiroshi was sleeping deeply…

The boy stood up and poked his head out of the room, in the corridor. He glanced at his sleeping brother and back at the hallway. He could go out and explore a bit. He'd come back before Hiroshi would wake up. He just had to remember the turns he was taking and he'd be fine. He had a very good memory when it came to code and directions. He couldn't remember well vocabulary though…

The child walked out of the small room and noted each turn he was taking, reversing the direction to note a clear path in his head.

_Right, right, left, right, left, left, left, right._

He stopped in front of a panel. It was another puzzle. It was a Sudoku. This one was rather small and easy, the only reason why it hasn't been solved yet woul be if he was the first one to have found it. The true question was how he'd mark the numbers? There wasn't any pencil anywhere! He put his finger on one of the empty spaces and drew a 1 with his finger, to visualize the number. A small red mark forming a 1 appeared in the blank square. Kazuya looked at his finger in confusion but he didn't see any red ink on it. He shrugged and continued, writing the numbers. He'd ask himself about this later, when he'd be back to the small room with Hiroshi. It took him around three minutes to solve the Sudoku. The panel fell on the gray wooden floor and the boy sticked his hand in the hole-like square in the wall. He pulled out a golden key it a thin rope to make a sort of necklace. The child put it around his neck and put the key inside his shirt. He looked at the floor and raised a brow. Was a gray wooden floor really possible? He knew there was a lot of tint to the wood by the point it could be red like in the previous area but _gray_? Seemed a bit odd. He'd ask Hiroshi when he'd get back. Hiroshi had an explanation for anything!

The boy continued his way and turned left two times. He walked down the long corridor and took a sharp turn to the right. He stopped immediately seeing another small room with an opened panel and someone standing in the middle of it. The person turned around to show himself. It was Ryota. They stared at each other for a moment—Kazuya in fear and Ryota with a pleased smile—until the child looked away and locked his eyes on the second person he didn't notice before: Takashi's corpse with a white and sharp object in his back. He looked back at Ryota when the tall teen spoke and extended his hand toward Kazuya.

"Come, I'll get you out of here."

The boy took a step back.

"I swear, it won't hurt" Added Ryota with a smile.

* * *

Hiroshi woke up with a moan. He was still in that maze. That whole thing wasn't a nightmare. He spotted Kazuya lying down a bit farther in the room. It seemed a bit odd; he perfectly remembered falling asleep while holding him… The teen just shrugged it off and approached the boy. He gently grabbed his shoulder and turned him so he could face him. He gasped and covered his mouth. The boy had both of his eyes closed, his cheeks were wet like if he had just cried and his chin and forehead were covered in blood. The teen took his brother in his lap before laying a shivering hand on the child's chest, begging to anyone who could hear him to feel a heartbeat. He waited a second, another one, one more, no heartbeat came.

"No... No, no, no, no, no..." He quietly let out.

Water filled Hiroshi's eyes and he hugged the cold small body. A sob found its way out of the gray-haired's mouth as he began stroking the boy's blood-stained hair like if he hugged him after he would've made a nightmare. Tears started to fall down his cheeks and other sobs came. He turned toward the opening of the small room where a tall shape flashed.

* * *

Hiroshi opened his eyes and looked around frightfully. No corpse, no shape... He had been dreaming. He sighed in relief and closed his eyes for a second just to be sure he was awake. He opened them again when realization hit him. There wasn't any body; in fact, his little brother wasn't there at all. He immediately stood up and got out of the small room.

"Kazuya!" He called out loud.

He didn't care if someone heard him, he didn't care if it would bring the beast to him, he just wanted to find his brother.

* * *

Ryota took a step closer.

"Come!" He insisted with a rather soft voice.

The boy didn't dare to move. Was it true he could get him out of here? He'd like to but this corpse seemed to warn him to go away.

The tall teen took another step and grabbed the child's arm. Kazuya blenched feeling how cold Ryota's hand was. The tall teen pulled his arm to bring him closer. The boy then bit as hard as he could the teen's hand who let go because of the sudden pain with a yelp. The child turned away and ran.

"Get back here, you bastard!" He heard Ryota shout.

The tone told the boy that the tall teen had lost his temper. This also told the child that he should continue running or something bad would happen.

_Left! Or... Was it right? No, left! No, right!_

Kazuya turned right but he knew when he headed down the smaller corridor that he took the wrong way. He was good at remembering directions but not when he was scared like that! He wanted to turn back and take the left hallway but he knew that if he stopped, Ryota would catch him. The child noticed everything became darker around him; it was a bit difficult to see. The boy took a quick glance behind him but turned away seeing that Ryota was really close. The silver-haired continued to run down the hallways turning in random direction and struggling to see something. Soon, he had to guide himself with the walls to move. Now, he could not see if Ryota was close or not! He ran straight into a wall and he let out a small moan. He walked to the right but met another wall. This was a dead end.

The child heard some steps getting closer. Ryota was there. He curled in a ball in the left corner, trying to be as little as possible. The steps got closer; they were in the same hallway. Kazuya shoved his fist in his mouth and bit it to push away the sob struggling to get out of his throat. If he made a step or a sigh, the tall teen would hear him. He heard Ryota's hand brush the wall. The brushing made a sound that seemed to ring in the child's head. He could almost feel the vibrations in the wall that the hand was making. The hand got closer to him. Kazuya snuggled closer to the wall, hoping to dodge the hand. The brushing suddenly stopped and silence got over the place for a small moment. He then heard a growl and a kick just next to his head before the steps got farther. The child didn't dare to move, like if the tall teen was still there, like if his feet would bump his head if he got away from the wall. He removed his fist from his mouth and the sob immediately escaped from his throat. He stayed in the corner for a very long moment, crying and shivering. What did he get himself into? This was a really bad idea; he shouldn't have gotten away!

* * *

"Kazuya!?" Hiroshi called out again, hoping for an answer.

He heard a scream. It wasn't his brother's one though. It sounded like a girl. He guessed it was Mika or Kaori or someone else he wasn't even thinking about. He locked his eyes on the floor, the part that made him a bit less uneasy. Maybe he couldn't see what was around the different hallways but at least he didn't want to throw up. He couldn't help but think about the dream he had earlier. He didn't remember a lot of things but he did remember one thing: his brother's corpse. What if Kazuya was lying in one of those corridors, covered in blood with his neck snapped or just beaten to death? Just the thought made him shiver and feel uneasy, even more than he already was.

When he saw the floor had changed colors, he looked up. The room was bigger and there was a door at the end of it; he was out of the maze. He smiled but soon lost his grin. Kazuya would never exit without him. He'd remember the directions and come back. Hiroshi stared at the door for a moment but turned away and headed back in the maze, knowing that he would change his mind if he looked at that door again. He'd like to remember the directions but directions weren't his thing. He had no problem with vocabulary and that kind of stuff but directions? He had to write that down; he couldn't remember that by heart!

After a couple of turns and curses under his breath, the teen arrived face-to-face with a long corridor that seemed to get darker. Hiroshi took out the lighter, ready to turn it on when he'd have difficulty to see. He started walking down the hallway but stopped in the middle of it. Each step he was taking farther drove him more and more sick.

* * *

_He's back! He's back!_ Kazuya's alarmed mind shouted.

There was a light getting closer too. This time, Ryota had light; he'd see him. The child closed his eyes and covered his head. He couldn't stop shivering; he didn't want to die!

"Kazuya?" He heard a familiar voice call.

The boy opened his eyes and looked toward the source of the voice. He recognized, lightened by the low light of a small flame, Hiroshi's face.

"Hiroshi!" Shouted the boy.

He stood up but soon stopped, seeing his brother's severe look.

"What were you thinking you were doing, running away like that!? Don't ever do this again!" Harshly exclaimed the teen.

Guilt immediately fell over the boy. He had promised to stay with Hiroshi but he just fled at the first opportunity he had! The child's vision got blurry.

"I'm sorry..." He replied, a tear slowly falling down his left eye.

The child lowered his head and let out a sob. Hiroshi's face softened and he sighed. He had lost his temper. The stress and the fear of losing his brother had gotten the best of him. The dream he had earlier didn't help either. Still, this wasn't a reason to get mad. Seeing how scared Kazuya seemed to be, the teen knew the boy had learned his lesson. The gray-haired knelt in front of the child and pulled him into a hug.

"I'm sorry... I just don't want to lose you, Kazuya. Don't do this again, okay?" He said with a softer tone.

While he was waiting for the boy to calm down a bit, he couldn't help but remember the first few weeks Kazuya was at home after he was born.

Hiroshi had felt left out all the time. People were coming to visit to see the baby, his friends wanted to see the newborn too. Hiroshi hadn't minded at first; it was something new in their lives; it was normal if people wanted to see his little brother! Every time there had been someone, they always wanted to see the baby first. The gray-haired soon had grown tired of that. Plus, his mother wasn't as patient with him as she used to be because of all the work the newborn was giving her. He was only seven; he couldn't understand how though it was to take care of such a young child. In fact, he had felt so left out and put aside that he had begun to hate Kazuya for that. Hiroshi passed most of his time in his room. He wasn't feeling like seeing anyone because they would want to look at the baby first. It was like if he wasn't there at all. Of course, his parents had noticed this and had gotten worried. Each time they brought that up, Hiroshi would just shrug it off and change the subject. He didn't want his mom and dad to be mad at him; he was scared they'd say he was selfish. Just the word was scary: _selfish_. After dinner, he'd just go back in his room and read a book or something like that. Sometimes, his mom had come in and had tried to figure out what was going on with her son but he insisted he was fine each time. He wasn't realizing he was pushing her away by doing that. He didn't want to push her away; he wanted to stay away from _Kazuya_, not _her_. One day, before going to school, Hiroshi had put his things on the table to search for something in his bag while his mother was in the bathroom or something like that and he had laid his eyes on the baby. He had been so concentrated in staying away from his little brother that he had forgotten how cute he looked. The gray-haired had put his index near Kazuya's arm who grabbed it with his tiny hand. The baby had opened his eyes the second after, revealing their blue color and smiled before closing his eyes because of the high brightness in the house. The gray-haired forgot all of his hate at that moment. How could he hate such a cute little thing? He had started to feel responsible of the little guy. His mom wouldn't be enough; someone else would have to take care of him when he'd need it. Hiroshi had accepted the mental contract immediately.

The teen slowly pulled away from his brother who seemed to have calmed down.

"Let's get out of here, okay?" Hiroshi said, the lighter making just enough light for his small smile to be seen.

Kazuya nodded and the teen took his hand to guide him back to the lightened up area. The road was easier than the gray-haired thought it would be. They made it back really easily. Hiroshi put away the lighter and decided to take the lead since his brother seemed to be too scared to take the initiative. Even though he still felt sick in there, the teen felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders. His brother was alive; this dream he had probably was because of the fear of losing him and the sight of others corpses. Hiroshi forced the image of the bloody body to go away. He didn't need to think about that now; they'd be okay as long as Kazuya stayed with him.

Even though the teen perfectly knew they were lost and probably far from the exit he found about an hour ago, he forced himself to stay calm. Freaking out and complaining wouldn't help and besides, he doubted that his brother would be reassured if the gray-haired would start losing hope. Kazuya suddenly stopped and stared at a hallway on their right. Hiroshi gave him a curious look until the child pointed the corridor.

"Maybe we should go there..." The silver-haired said.

The boy headed down the hallway and took the lead, stopping from time to time like if he was listening to something. After a couple of turns, they arrived in a hallway that seemed somehow familiar to Hiroshi even if this was practically impossible since all of the corridors were the same color; pale gray walls and a gray wooden floor. While progressing, the teen started to feel less sick. He didn't really know why; maybe it was because he was getting used to this place. They turned left and the gray-haired stopped in his tracks. The floor's colour had changed. He realized they had just found the exit. The child turned and smiled, knowing they would be out of here after this door.

"How'd you know this was the good way?" Asked the gray-haired.

The child shrugged.

"I don't know, I just _felt_ like it was the good way."

The gray-haired smiled; maybe he didn't understand that feeling Kazuya had but at least they were out of here. All the sickness Hiroshi had suddenly vanished when he twisted the knob of the door that would lead them to the next phase.

* * *

**It's my b-day but I'll give YOU a gift(it's this chpter by the way) (... and this cookie *shoots cookie*)**

**Kazuya putting himself in danger was a last minute idea; I'm happy I got it! XD (I just hope Kazuya doesn't become hateful after that)  
So, please leave a review and see you next time!  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The boys found themselves in a large hall. It had a dark red floor covered by black dirt at some places but the thing that was the most obvious was the smell. Both of them never smelled a corpse or blood but they could bet it smelled just like that. There was a large hallway right in front of them, a staircase next to the hallway, a door to the right and a smaller corridor to the left. The two of them stood there silently; they didn't know where to go. Kazuya heard a very faint sound come from the smaller hallway. It sounded like a quick run but the steps were too light and quick to be human. The child grabbed Hiroshi's arm very tight with his free hand; he did not trust this sound.

The teen turned and gave a curious look to his brother who was staring at the smaller hallway with both of his eyes wide in fear. The gray-haired didn't know―and didn't really want to know―what the boy heard but he trusted the child's better ear. At least, they now knew where they should _not_ go first. The teen decided to go straight to the large corridor. They walked there, trying not to step on those suspicious dry black things on the floor. There were windows with bars on them, letting a bit of light coming in. It was almost comforting to hear the rain outside. It was just like if the rain was telling them they weren't _that_ far from outside. Hiroshi looked away from the window and walked to the right. They maybe were not _that_ far from outside but there was still a wall and a window separating them from the rest of the world. The teen opened the only door he found and entered the room with his brother. The room was practically empty. There was a very small table in the down left corner and a closet at the very end of the room right in front of them.

The child heard the faint sound again. This time, it seemed to come from the walls; like if something was walking in the walls.

"Can we go somewhere else?" Asked Kazuya. "I don't like this room."

Hiroshi couldn't help but scoff.

"I don't think you'll like a lot of rooms..." He said, making a small smile.

The child gave him a look saying that he was serious and Hiroshi lost his grin and nodded. They got out of the room and headed to the other one they almost went in a minute ago. They wouldn't spend a lot of time in each room anyway; Hiroshi just wanted to get familiar with his surroundings so he would know where to run when they would meet with the monster. They opened the door and stepped in. The room was identical to the other one, except that there wasn't any closet in this one. Seemed less dirty too...

The boys got out of the room and back to the main hall. Hiroshi was about to turn the knob on the door near the staircase when he saw a shadow pass behind the small crack under the door. The teen knew it might be another chosen one who was just hiding there until the next phase but he didn't want to run into the monster or Ryota and Takero. He decided to head up the stairs instead. The first door they found was on their left. The gray-haired twisted the knob but he wasn't able to push it. It didn't feel like if it was stuck but like if something was pushing it back to keep it closed. The teen backed away and pointed the next door by a head move to his brother. Whoever was behind the door wanted to be alone. They turned away from the door and walked to the other one. They arrived next to a smaller corridor but still decided to look at that room. Hiroshi turned the knob and stepped in. There was a long table broken in half and turned over surrounded by what looked like broken porcelain and broken chairs. There was also a fireplace in front of the table with a lighten fire in it. Though, something seemed weird. There was something else than wood and fire in the mantle. Hiroshi gestured to his brother to stay where he was and then approached the fire. As he was approaching the mantle, he recognized the form of feet, hands and a head. The little girl, Myo, was lying in the fire, now long dead and burnt. His heart stopped for a second. Who would be cruel enough to do that? The way she was placed didn't show it was an accident. Could it be the demon? He doubted so. The beast would probably eat its victims, not burn them! The only choice left was the chosen ones. It could be Ryota or Takero but seriously, did they really burn a poor ten years old girl? Hiroshi turned back and got out of the room with his brother.

"What was in the fire?" Asked Kazuya while they were walking down the small hallway next to the previous room.

The teen forced his lips to make a smile.

"Nothing important, just some junk!"

"Okay..." He said, turning away, an anxious face forming soon after.

The gray-haired's smile faded but not only because of the burned corpse he saw earlier. Hiroshi stopped walking, knelt in front of the child and put his hand of his shoulders.

"Kazuya, we _are_ going to get out of here, okay? I promise." He said with a quite reassuring tone.

The boy nodded and then pulled his brother into a hug.

"I'm so scared..." He whispered once the teen had wrapped his arms around him.

They stayed like this for a moment until Hiroshi felt like they'd be caught in a couple of seconds if they didn't move now. The teen slowly pulled away and gave the child a reassuring smile. The teen stood up and they walked up the rest of the distance they had to walk to reach the end of the hallway. When they arrived there, they met with a staircase going up on their left. They climbed up the stairs and ended up in a sort of small hall with a door in a corner. The boys headed toward it, the floor making loud cracks under each of their steps. Happily for them, the door wasn't too far so they were able to reach it in no time. They stepped in the room and closed the door behind them. The room was rather long but not so large. The floor was broken or destroyed at some places and the rest looked quite weak. This place would be dangerous to go during a chase, it would be better if they avoided it. Hiroshi was about to head out when Kazuya noticed something.

"What's there?" Said the child pointing at something on the wall.

Before the gray-haired could say anything, the boy let go of the teen's hand and walked toward the wall at the far end of the room. Hiroshi followed soon after, being careful not to step on the weakest parts. He was heavier than his little brother. If he wasn't careful, the floor might break under his weight. The teen joined his brother pretty quickly and looked at the panel Kazuya was staring at. There were four lines going from the top to the bottom of the white panel and another one crossing them a little above the middle of the lines. There were four dots on each line under the horizontal ones, each placed a bit differently and one above the horizontal line, some placed near the lines and some placed farther.

"What's that?" Asked Kazuya to Hiroshi.

"I think it's a soroban." Answered the gray-haired.

"What's that?" Repeated the child who had no idea what a soroban was.

"The dot above the horizontal line represents five and the dots under that line represent one." Explained the teen.

"Um… Okay."

Just by the tone, Hiroshi knew he didn't understand at all. It was hard to explain how a soroban worked. He pointed the first vertical line, where all the dots were near the horizontal line.

"If I say this is a nine, do you understand?" He asked.

The silver-haired looked blankly at the panel for a moment and smiled after a moment.

"Oh! I understand now!" Exclaimed the child. "So the four numbers would be 9628?"

"Exactly!" Replied the gray-haired. "Think you can remember the numbers?"

The child nodded. Hiroshi couldn't help but wonder why there was a code here. They were in a survival phase now, right? There weren't any codes in those normally…

Kazuya noticed a small bookshelf. It was the same dark color than the walls; it was very hard to see but still there. He quickly crossed the short distance between him and the bookshelf. It took him only a second to realize it was empty. He turned toward his brother and his eyes widened.

"Hiroshi! Behind you!"

The teen only had the time to slightly turn before a hard and cold object bashed on his head, knocking him out. Ryota stood behind the fallen teen, holding a large metal stick in his hand. He slowly looked up to the child who couldn't move in fright and dropped the stick. The tall teen looked back at Hiroshi and spotted the lighter that came out of the gray-haired's pocket. He picked it up and smiled.

"Ooh… Look at that…" Ryota said to himself.

He took a little girl-sized jacket and dropped it on the gray-haired so only a sleeve would touch Hiroshi. He then turned on the lighter, his smile getting wider and he transferred the flame on the first sleeve that caught on fire. He dropped the lighter and looked at Kazuya.

"You'll watch him burn? What a brother you are…" He said with a smile.

This made the child snap out of his small trance. If he didn't do anything, Hiroshi would die! The boy quickly took the metal stick and swung it at the tall teen who caught it and threw the weapon away. He took a hold of the boy's hand and forced them into the slowly growing fire. The child screamed in pain and tried to remove his hands, tears falling down his eyes. He bit hard Ryota's forearm, transferring all of his pain in that bite. The tall teen yelped, giving an opportunity to the silver-haired to escape. The boy took it and got away from Ryota. The good news was that the fire was now out. The tall teen groaned in anger and took a plate shard from his pocket. It was the same one the child saw in that spiky-haired boy's back; there was still the blood on it! He threw it hard and Kazuya ducked just in time to dodge it. The smooth side of the shard hit the wall and bounced back to land right in the child's painful hands. He just had the time to raise the shard before Ryota leaped on the boy. Kazuya took a step back to try to find his balance and put his foot on a weak spot on the floor that broke under the sudden weight. The child yelped as he fell on his back (Landing on a stronger spot that only cracked, happily) with the tall teen. Ryota made a quiet gasp and Kazuya felt a warm liquid flow on his hands. The tall teen backed away and fell on the side, laying a hand on the plate shard in his chest. He let out a short moan while the child got his leg out of the hole and looked back at the teen who had blood slowly pouring out of his mouth. He looked at the boy when his vision started to get blurry and he closed his eyes, his arms falling limply on his side.

Kazuya started shivering. Was he… dead? He wasn't moving and he didn't look like he was breathing either. The child looked down at his own hands and his heart stopped. They were covered in blood: Ryota's blood. The boy's vision started to get blurry because of the water filling his eyes. He had been the one holding the plate shard. The first tear fell down his eyes and others very soon followed.

He had just _murdered_ someone.

* * *

**I wanted to write this part since FOREVER!  
I also had some unexpected (and unwanted to be honest XD) Inspiration for my next story... So it should get published soon after that one!  
So, please review and see you next time!**


	9. Chapter 9

**FLASHBACKS, FLASHBACKS EVERYWHERE!**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Hiroshi sat on the bench in the school's main hall, waiting for Kazuya to come so they could get home. The child arrived a couple of minutes later, his eyes red like if he just finished crying and holding his nose. The teen stood up and knelt in front of his brother.

"What happened to you?" He asked, concerned.

Kazuya shook his head and winced.

"I'm fine…" He quietly let out.

"No, you're not!" Exclaimed Hiroshi while removing his brother's hand from his face.

The child's nose was lightly bent to the right and there was a bit of blood coming out of it. His left cheek was red and a bit inflated.

"Who did this?" Asked the teen angrily.

"I'm fine, really." Insisted the boy.

"You're not, who did this?"

Kazuya looked at the floor.

"Takero…"

The gray-haired frowned.

"Him again? He just finished his suspension for that!"

"It didn't stop him…" Mumbled the child.

Hiroshi saw in the corridor facing him the said teen heading out like if he never did anything. He clenched his fist. How could that guys exit the school with that impassive expression after what he had done?

"Kazuya? What happened to you? Are you okay?" He heard his mom's voice say.

The teen's frown changed for a surprised face.

"Mom?"

"I just finished the groceries; I thought I could pass by and pick you up." She said, wrapping an arm around the child, obviously concerned about her younger son.

"I have to stay. Shura decided to start her part of project at the last minute again. I have to help her." Said Hiroshi calmly.

"Oh, I see…" She said.

"I'll be back for dinner." He added.

Etsuko nodded and headed out of the school with Kazuya. Of course, he had just lied. It was true that Shura got at the last minute for the project and had to do all of it now and here but she was with Rin. Hiroshi was with Shun and they were done with the project two days after it was announced. He walked in the corridor where he saw Takero pass earlier and walked down a couple of stairs. He met with the backdoor where some students would use to go home. The teen stepped out of the school and looked around until he spotted Takero leaning on the wall, turning on a cigarette. The gray-haired walked up to him. The red-haired ignored him until he was only a meter away. He turned with an impassive look and stared at Hiroshi for a short moment.

"Are you that wimp's brother?" Asked Takero casually. "You have those same crybaby eyes."

The gray-haired clenched his fist but forced himself to calm down by crossing his arms.

"Why are you still picking on him? Haven't you learned your lesson for that?" Said Hiroshi.

Takero puffed some smoke and looked silently at Hiroshi for a second.

"Yup... Same eyes... Except yours don't get watery when I stare at them." Said the red-haired. "By the way, nobody teaches me any lesson. Suspension won't do anything because _I don't care_. In fact, the suspension made me forget a bit his reactions so I enjoy them more now."

He paused to let out some smoke and continued.

"Even if you yell at me a thousand times, I won't stop. I don't care about words and that's all you can do, talk and negotiate. Well, I don't work like that so get lost 'cause I know you're not capable of doing anything el–" He was silenced by Hiroshi's fist on his jaw.

The cigarette fell out of the red-haired's mouth as he flinched. His lightly surprised face rapidly turned into an angry one. He tried to punch the teen on the nose but the gray-haired saw it coming and caught his arm. The red-haired took advantage of that small distraction and made a powerful uppercut that made a violent contact with Hiroshi's jaw. Takero then punched the teen's stomach and kicked hard his ankle before he backed away a bit.

"A fight, huh? You chose the bad opponent, big brother!"

The red-haired charged but Hiroshi grabbed his shoulders and shoved him on the brick wall behind. Takero kicked the gray-haired's ankle a bit harder this time. He then punched hard the teen in the left eye, breaking his glasses at the same time and gave him a couple of blows in the face. Hiroshi grabbed the red-haired by the neck and forced him to stay leaned on the wall. The gray-haired gave several hard blows until a very familiar voice came to his ears.

"Hiroshi!? Stop that!"

The teen stopped, recognizing Rin's voice and shoved the other boy on the asphalt floor. Takero stood up clumsily and shot a glare at Hiroshi.

"You'll pay for this one day! Believe me, you'll pay!" He shouted before walking away.

Rin got closer to Hiroshi and gently passed a hand on this cheek. Even though her hand was warm, a chill passed down the teen's spine when her hand made contact with his face.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

She then sighed and scoffed, lightly shaking her head.

"That's a stupid question, of course you're not!" She said.

She removed her hand from his cheek and grabbed his hand.

"I'll walk you home. We'd better take care of that black eye…"

That's when Hiroshi realized he was keeping his left eye closed. Maybe he wouldn't be able to open it even if he tried. The teen took a step toward his house but stopped and winced at the pain in his ankle. Rin put a hand on his chest and the other one on his back, ready to hold him if he fell but he was able to keep his balance.

"I'll help you walk." She volunteered just before placing her arm on his back to support him.

"What was that all about?" Asked Rin when they started heading toward the gray-haired's house.

"He kept picking on Kazuya so I taught him a lesson." Calmly answered the teen.

"Oh…"

The two got into a rather awkward silence until Hiroshi spoke up.

"I thought you were helping Shura with the project."

"I was but it wasn't as long as we thought it would be. She only needs to arrange one detail at home and everything will be ready."

The gray-haired scoffed.

"I hope she doesn't forget about that, though."

Rin giggled.

"I'll be really mad if she does!"

There was another silence but this one was a bit less awkward. He couldn't help but stare at her. He stared at her long golden hair, her kind eyes and her pale face. He couldn't help but smile. Feeling observed, she looked up to see his eyes locked on her.

"Stop staring at me like that! It's embarrassing." She said, lightly blushing.

The gray-haired looked away for a second, forcing the light blush to go away from his face. They arrived at the house a minute after and climbed up the stairs leading to the door. Just before he would lay his hand on the door. He heard Kazuya's voice just like if he was next to him.

"Hiroshi! Don't abandon me! Please, answer me!"

* * *

The teen opened his eyes, his head pounding hard. He sighed, realizing he had been dreaming. It was a bit odd, he dreamt of something that already happened. It had been a while since that fight happened. Not less than six months. Takero and him hadn't spoken to each other until the library incident where he wanted to kill Kazuya to…

_Kazuya!_

Hiroshi immediately pushed himself up with his arm, ignoring the pain coming from the side of his head and took a quick look around to find his brother. His heart started to beat faster and faster when he didn't see anyone. His heart stopped when he saw Ryota lying on the floor with what looked like the shard of a broken plate in his chest. He let out a heavy sigh and quickly looked around one last time, hoping he just missed his brother. He still didn't see him. He noticed a hole next to Ryota's corpse. Did Kazuya fell in there and hurt himself? The teen looked in and recognized the room with the fireplace. The hole was too small; Kazuya could never fit in completely. Besides, he wouldn't hurt himself if he fell; the ceiling was quite low in the room below. Hiroshi stood up and looked one last time at Ryota's body before taking the plate shard in case he'd run into Takero. The gray-haired walked out of the room and climbed down the stairs. He got out of the corridor and tried to open the door to the room Kazuya and he couldn't go in earlier. Since he met with the same strong resistance against the door, the teen went down the stairs and stayed near the other door they didn't open. Maybe Takero came in, forced Kazuya to go with him and left Ryota and Hiroshi for dead. The only reason the gray-haired would wish for this is that it would probably mean the child was still alive. He put his left ear on the door, trying to hear a voice, maybe he would hear Kazuya's one. He recognized Kaori's and Takero's.

"I thought you said Ryota was quick." Pouted the girl.

Takero sighed.

"Look, it's not my fault if he's slow on this one."

"I would've been back already if it was me. A kid is the easiest target."

The gray-haired's heart stopped. Did he mean Kazuya by _kid_?

"Yeah, your corpse would be back!" Scoffed the red-haired. "Besides, you'd change your mind at the last second when you'd have stared at those big kiddy eyes. You're too much of a sweet little sheep to kill anyone."

"You don't know that! I could prove it to you right now!"

There was a sound that made Hiroshi think of a slap.

"What was that for?" Kaori said.

"See? If you were able to kill someone you would've punched me back instead of asking why like a dumb."

There was a groan and a small silence until Takero spoke up.

"I'll go see what takes him so long."

Hiroshi backed away from the door and darted to the large hallway next to the staircase. He heard the door open and steps getting closer. The teen prepared himself to fight back but the steps went in the staircase instead. He sighed in relief; he did not want to fight right now. He walked down the corridor, turned right and opened the door. He stopped and stared at the closet for a moment. He then silently approached it and put his hands on the handles. He opened the doors and a small whimper came to his ears.

Feeling no pain, Kazuya uncovered his eyes, meeting with Hiroshi's. The two boys stared at each other in disbelief until the child's eyes filled with tears. He pulled the teen into a tight hug and he started sobbing uncontrollably. The teen hugged him back and closed his eyes. He was alive.

"I... I thought..." Manage to let out the boy. "I thought you were dead!"

He then let out a couple of other sobs.

"You weren't answering to me…" Quietly said the child, his voice quivering.

Once Kazuya had calmed down a bit, Hiroshi set him on the floor and gave him a reassuring smile.

"I won't abandon you like that, Kazuya. I promised to get you out of there so I will, no matter what."

The silver-haired nodded and wiped away the last tear running down his cheek. Hiroshi grabbed his little brother's hand and exited the room. The boys got back in the main hall. The teen made sure he didn't hear any steps or voices before heading in the smaller corridor they never went in before. They could've climbed up the stairs but the gray-haired wasn't sure if Takero was back in the other room with Kaori yet.

While they were walking down the corridor toward the two only doors of the hallway, the teen noticed something shiny a bit farther than the first door. His curiosity took over and he headed toward it. The two boys stopped in their track when they heard loud cracks from the floor underneath. The gray-haired slowly raised his foot to turn away but before they could react, a much louder crack was heard and the floor broke under their feet. They both made frightened screams and fell down. They couldn't see the floor very well, the black dots on the purple overall color kept moving from left to right or down and up. It's only when they landed that they understood what was going on. This wasn't the floor; it was the thousands of bugs moving on it. Since they hadn't let go of each other's hands, the gray-haired didn't have any problem pulling the boy closer. They got up and tried to shake—or push—off the bugs climbing on them but there was so any that being bitten was inevitable. They felt sharp pain on their legs, their arms, their back, their neck… Hiroshi finally spotted a staircase. It was hardly reachable because a good part of it was destroyed but it was still reachable. Hiroshi ran there, dragging the child along. He grabbed the silver-haired by the hips and lifted him on the remaining stairs. The teen then jumped and grabbed the edge of a step. His hands slowly slipped away but Kazuya grabbed the teen's arms before he would fall back.

The bugs suddenly let go and walked on the very same spot in the middle of the room. Hiroshi took advantage of that and pulled himself up. The black eye of the insects seemed to melt to form two bigger black eyes and their skin melted too to surround the orbs. Arms and hands got formed followed by legs. The demon was now standing there, staring at them and ready to pursue them. The boys got up and climbed up the stairs as fast as they could while the monster was approaching them, making long steps to catch up.

Its hand grabbed Hiroshi's legs and it pulled the teen closer. It stared at him in the eye. The gray-haired fought, hoping it would let go but soon felt all of his body getting numb. The beast opened its mouth, revealing its red teeth. Hiroshi felt like death was calling him, telling him to stop fighting and just let go. The teen closed his eyes tight and begged to anyone who could hear him that someone would find and protect Kazuya.

The boy pulled hard a wooden plank off the floor and smashed it against the beast that looked away from Hiroshi. The demon threw the teen on the child who yelped at the impact and fell back. The gray-haired regained control of his body and got up. He took the wincing child in his arms and ran out of the room. He recognized the smaller hallway. The gray-haired darted in the larger corridor and turned right. He pushed the door open, closing it behind. His eyes lay on the closet at the end of the room. The teen opened the double doors, got in with his brother and closed the doors.

"Are you alright?" Asked the teen to the silver-haired.

The small crack between the doors let in just enough light for the gray-haired to see the child nod.

"You should've run though, you could have gotten hurt." Calmly said Hiroshi.

"But… I didn't want you to die…" Quietly replied the boy.

Hiroshi sighed and pulled his brother into a hug.

"Thank you for saving me. I thought I was done for."

They waited for a couple of minutes before exiting the closet. The gray-haired took the lead. When they were about to go back in the main hall, the teen saw a huge shadow pass quickly at the end of the corridor. The teen ran to the other room and closed the door. What was that? He doubted it was the monster since the shadow had passed way too quickly to be the beast. He looked down at his brother who looked back at him curiously. He didn't look frightened at all. He saw that shadow too, didn't he?

A loud bang on the door pulled him out of his thoughts. He quickly turned to see cracks getting formed on the door. It was about to break down!

"Hiroshi, what's wrong?" Asked Kazuya.

The teen gave him a weird look. Couldn't he see them? The cracks we so large, he could put a finger in those!

"Can't you see them?" Asked Hiroshi.

"See what?"

The gray-haired frowned. Was he _that _blind? The teen felt a sharp pain in his foreleg. It was like he had been hit by a baseball bat filled with boiling water. He looked down and his eyes met with a snake slowly crawling around his legs. Before he could do anything, his legs gave up, making him fall on the ground. The gray-haired only had the time to blink before seeing dozens of snakes covering the whole floor. He could feel them crawl on him. He started shivering. They were so heavy; he couldn't move because of their weight. The pain came back; it was way sharper; he felt like he was burning from the inside. He couldn't contain himself anymore; he screamed. His whole body was so painful. He wished he would die so it would stop. Nothing of this happened, only more pain came. He closed his eyes tight and tears slowly fell from them.

The teen felt a cold thing wrap his hands. He opened his eyes and saw Kazuya who looked more than just worried. It seemed like he was talking but Hiroshi couldn't hear anything. Some snakes fell off when the child pulled him up and hugged him tight. His screams of pain turned into long moans and heavy breaths. The snakes disappeared, but the pain persisted. His vision darkened and got blurry.

"Kazuya… I…"

He didn't have time to finish his sentence before he blacked out.

The child quickly turned when the door opened, his blurry vision letting him see the shape of two teens.

* * *

**Last minute ideas... They keep coming! XD  
Well, better than writer's block!  
Also... LEECHUMS! (The bugs are named Leechums)  
**

**Please leave a review and see you next chapter!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Hiroshi looked at the television. The names the man was saying through the microphone were unknown to him. He knew Kazuya and he were safe but he was still worried.

_Please, not this name._

"Rin Koriyama."

The name stabbed Hiroshi like a knife. It was the exact name he didn't want to hear. He always thought nobody he knew would ever get named; he thought it happened only to others. There had been Kazuya and now her. He didn't want to lose her but there was nothing he could do. He wasn't allowed to go in the mansion anymore. Why her? She didn't do anything wrong! He opened the door and ran to the building he once went in. He saw the men guiding her toward the house.

"Rin!" He shouted, tears slowly falling down his eyes.

He tried to reach her by pushing away the guards but they were way stronger. They violently pushed him on the ground. He tried to stand up but pain from his hands stopped him. There was blood on them, a _lot_ of blood.

* * *

Hiroshi opened his eyes. The room he was in was barely lightened by a small flame on a candle. The teen put a hand on his head. He wasn't even done with this place but he was already having nightmares about next year! He tried to sit up but a sharp pain in his head kept him down. That pain after the blow to the head was nothing compared to that… But the pain he had now was nothing compared to that moment with the snakes! The gray-haired couldn't help but think about those snakes. It didn't make sense at all. There was only one and after a single blink, there were thousands. They also disappeared right after Kazuya hugged him, right before he blacked out.

Hiroshi pushed himself up. It was too late when his head complained, he was already seated. His vision wasn't really clear yet so he closed his eyes for a couple of seconds to give himself a bit of time to wake up. He then looked around the room and found his brother sleeping in a corner. Somebody else had his hand on the child's forehead, probably taking his temperature or something like that...

_Wait, what!?_

He immediately forgot about his head and violently pushed the other teen against the wall who grunted when his back met the hard wall.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Asked the gray-haired with a rather intimidating voice.

The blonde just stared at him, apparently really startled by Hiroshi's assault. He didn't look like he was acting, he really looked surprised. The gray-haired loosened his grip and recognized that silent boy in the train, Takeshi.

"I-I just wanted to help!" Stuttered Takeshi. "We heard you scream and then we found you in-"

"_We_? Who are you with?"

The door to the room opened, letting a black-haired teen enter.

"Him." Said the blonde, pointing at the newcomer.

"Woh." Let out the black-haired, named Naoki. "I think I came in at the wrong moment."

Naoki then approached the two other boys.

"Calm down, we're not here to hurt you. We heard you scream, took pity of your brother's weepy face and brought you here, that's all."

Hiroshi released Takeshi and sat on the floor, sighing.

"How are you feeling?" Asked the black-haired. "You looked a bit like a corpse when we found you."

"My head is killing me but other than that, I'm fine." Hiroshi then turned toward his brother. "How is he doing?"

"He has a big fever but he's okay."

The gray-haired stared at his brother for a moment. The child was curled in a ball and shivering in his sleep.

"Why were you screaming? The beast wasn't anywhere." Asked Naoki.

Hiroshi didn't really know what to answer. Snakes? Nothing at all? Pain from bites?

"I don't know." Finally answered Hiroshi.

"You mean, you forgot?" Said Takeshi.

The gray-haired shook his head.

"I'm just not sure at all."

"Everything can be seen here." Pointed out Naoki.

"Snakes?"

"Uh… maybe not snakes…"

The blonde shrugged.

"Maybe you were hallucinating or something." He suggested.

This would explain why the snakes appeared and disappeared so quickly but it was still weird to say it was a hallucination. It felt so real.

"Ryota is dead." Suddenly said the black-haired to Takeshi.

"Really!?"

"Yeah, I saw his corpse with my own eyes! I think he was stabbed in the chest."

Hiroshi took out the plate shard.

"He was stabbed by this." He added.

When the two other boys saw the shard with some blood still on it, they backed away, their eyes widening.

"Did you…?" Started Naoki.

"No, I found it on him. He knocked me out and he was dead when I woke up."

"Maybe _he_ did it?" Suggested Takeshi while pointing at Kazuya.

"Kazuya? He wouldn't hurt a fly!" Scoffed the gray-haired.

"Then who else would've killed him?"

Hiroshi looked at his brother. Naoki and Takeshi were in that room during the whole time and he doubted that Kaori and Takero would've eliminated their own partner. This would leave only the silver-haired…

"You know there's only three of us who can escape, right?" Said Hiroshi, changing the subject.

They nodded and both looked away, like if they were a bit ashamed of something.

"Actually…" Started Naoki. "We expected one of you to die while we were staying here."

"Yeah…" Finished Takeshi. "You were out for a day, we thought you were about to pass away."

Hiroshi preferred not to say anything. A hand met his. He turned to see his brother with both of his eyes opened. The child pushed himself up and snuggled on the teen who wrapped an arm around the shivering boy. Kazuya looked at the two other boys with a tired gaze for a moment.

"Thank you…" He said quietly before closing his eyes, falling asleep again.

Takeshi couldn't help but make a small smile.

"He makes me think of my sister."

"How old is she?" Curiously asked Naoki.

"She was eight."

"_Was_?"

The blonde nodded.

"She was chosen last time."

"Oh."

Takeshi sighed.

"I kind of admire you for that." He said, looking at Hiroshi.

"For what?" Asked Hiroshi.

"For volunteering. You did what I didn't. When my sister was chosen, I hesitated so they took her away. I sort of hoped I would see her again if I came here so I did everything to be chosen. I always felt guilty for her death."

Hiroshi smiled and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's not your fault. Nobody wants to be here; you're not the only one who hesitated. It's only because I pictured the scenario a couple of times in my head that I was able to react faster."

The blonde made a small smile. Maybe the gray-haired wasn't the best at comforting others but it looked like it had been enough for the other teen.

Kazuya made a shivering sigh. The gray-haired looked at his brother for a second.

"How long has it been since he's sick?" He asked.

Naoki shrugged.

"I don't know. He stayed next to you all the time. Takeshi and I were trying to find where the next door would be one after the other and then after a couple of exchanges, he was like that."

"Oh, yeah," Remembered the blonde. "We think we found the place where the door will appear. I think there's one person left to die."

The door made a loud _bang_ and swung open. Takero and Kaori entered the room, looking pretty mad.

"I FUCKING KNOW IT'S ONE OF YOU!" Takero shouted, waking up Kazuya right away.

Hiroshi knew that they were talking about Ryota. He also knew that if he didn't say anything, Takeshi and Naoki would be in trouble too even if they did nothing wrong. He took out the plate shard and showed it to the red-haired.

"I did it." He said, staring at Takero right in the eyes.

"You…" He repeated, trembling in anger. "I should've killed you in the library with your stupid brother!"

The words came out of Hiroshi's mouth without any warning.

"Then kill me now." He let out, raising the plate shard.

Takero's angry face turned into a smile and he took the metal stick Kaori was hiding behind her back.

"Go on, make the first blow, big brother." He teased.

The gray-haired immediately regretted his words. He did not want a fight.

"Since you're too scared to hit me, I'll show you how." Said Takero.

He raised the stick to strike but something kept it up. Everyone backed away from Takero who looked up. The beast was there, right behind him, holding the other end of the stick. The red-haired couldn't hold a scream before he let go of the stick and ran out of the room, soon followed by the others. Kazuya climbed on his older brother's back and Hiroshi ran out with everyone else. Takero and Kaori ran in the room down the stairs and shut the door. Hiroshi darted in the larger corridor, ran to the right and got in the room. He brought his brother to the closet, opened the double doors and forced him in before closing the doors. If he stayed here, the beast would probably look in the closet but if he distracted it, it would maybe forget about it. The teen got out of the room and walked back in the main hall. It was remarkably quiet now.

"Is it… gone?" He heard Naoki ask.

The gray-haired turned toward the smaller hallway where he saw the two other teens standing.

"I have no idea." Answered Hiroshi.

"Where's your brother?" Asked Takeshi, looking a bit worried.

"He's fine, he's hiding."

"I think we should-" Takeshi's words were cut by Kaori's scream.

The door to the room next to the staircase swung open, revealing the two frightened teens running out. The beast walked out too and quickly melted, transforming into dozens of bugs that were much faster. Takero and Kaori ran in the smaller corridor while the others ran in the stairs. Hiroshi quickly climbed up the stairs with the other two and ran in the second hallway leading to the other staircase.

Naoki's foot stepped on the only weak spot of the hallway and the wood broke under his foot. He yelped and grunted when he fell on his stomach. The bugs immediately rushed on the black-haired who screamed in pain. It only said to the remaining insects that he was vulnerable. They all jumped on him and bit him, making him scream louder. Tears escaped from his eyes because of the pain and he reached out his hand to grab something, anything that could shake those things off or help him crawl toward the others. He could hear their voices but the pain wouldn't allow him to understand what Takeshi and Hiroshi were saying. He closed his eyes tight and stopped fighting. He could feel those things walk on his flesh; he doubted he had any skin on his back. He felt a sharp pain on his neck and then, nothing.

Hiroshi and Takeshi were forced to continue without the black-haired when the insects started to get off Naoki's now limp body. They climbed up the stairs and ran straight for the door in the corner of the hall. The gray-haired brought Takeshi to a pretty big hole in the floor. Hiroshi jumped in first and the blonde came next. They darted out of the fireplace room—where they landed— and stopped for a split second to see that the only thing left where Naoki lay earlier was a puddle of blood. The boys headed down the stairs and headed down the large hallway. They turned right and entered the room. Hiroshi opened the closet and helped Kazuya to get out.

"Where was that room you thought the door would appear?" Asked the gray-haired to Takeshi.

"Follow me."

The blonde took the lead and got back in the main hall, clearly thinking about something else. He got in the smaller corridor and opened the first door on their path. Hiroshi recognized the room where he would've died if Kazuya didn't hit the monster with that wooden plank. Takeshi headed down the stairs and jumped off the rest, where it was destroyed. The gray-haired jumped down too and helped his brother join them. Indeed, there was a door on the wall and it wasn't there when the child and he fell here.

"There." Let out the blonde teen.

Hiroshi sighed and put his hand on the knob. He felt a shiver pass in his whole body, like if he was being warned of his own death. He bit the inside of his cheek to push the weird feeling away and turned the knob.

That's it; that was the last phase before they would be given a chance to get out of here. They just might go home!

* * *

**I thought it would be a good idea to let Naoki and Takeshi help a little. :p**

**Please leave a review and see you next chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

The three boys stayed in a surprised silence for a moment. There were doors, thousands of doors. There were four extremely long corridors in front of them and they were all filled with doors. Hiroshi had no idea where to go. The only thing he knew is that one of them would lead them to the exit. He couldn't help but wonder what the exit would be like. Would it be stairs, a long tunnel, just another door, nothing at all? He pushed the thoughts away. He shouldn't think about that now, he had to concentrate on finding the good door before.

He went to the door between the first and second hallway before turning the knob that blocked, telling the teen the door was locked. The gray-haired somehow felt relieved. If a good portion of the doors was locked, it would take less time to search each room and they would find the exit faster. Unless... What if the exit was hidden behind one of these locked doors? It would mean they'd have to look for a key to open the door leading to the exit. The teen pushed a grunt back in his throat, knowing complaining wouldn't change anything. He noticed the door he just tried to open had a silver keyhole on it. He shot a quick glance around the different hallways. He saw that almost every door had a keyhole on it. He joined Kazuya and Takeshi who had stayed behind.

"So, where do we start?" asked the gray-haired to the other two.

Takeshi shrugged.

"As long as we find the exit in the end, I'm fine."

The two teens looked at Kazuya who didn't seem to have heard them. He stared at his hands that were way darker than usual. Hiroshi knelt next to his brother.

"What happened to your hands?" asked a very concerned teen, taking the child's hands.

"Ryota forced them in a fire." said the boy. "Then, he threw the sharp thing and leaped on me. We fell and… and…"

The silver-haired stopped for a second.

"I… I swear it was an accident!" he exclaimed.

The two teens stayed silent for a short moment. So he really was the one who killed Ryota. Weird but true. Hiroshi put his hands on Kazuya's shoulders.

"But of course it was!" he said, "You're okay and that's all what matters."

The child nodded and Hiroshi stood up. He then looked at Takeshi.

"Don't take this personal…" he requested, talking about that last line he said.

The blonde shook his head.

"I would've said the same thing to my sister."

"You have a sister?" asked Kazuya.

That's when the older boys remembered they talked about her while the child was asleep.

"Yeah." Takeshi answered, passing a hand behind his neck.

"What's her name? Maybe I know her."

"She lives in another city." interrupted the gray-haired, "I highly doubt you know her!"

"Misaki." answered Takeshi, "That's her name."

The boy was about to ask how she looked like but he stopped when he saw the blonde's sad expression and looked away, feeling like he shouldn't have asked that.

"... We should get going..." finally said Hiroshi, breaking the silence and taking his brother's hand.

"... Yeah..." quietly let out Takeshi, quickly blinking away some tears.

They started with the first corridor. The couple of doors they went in were some empty room with a table or a chair as the only furniture. Heck, one of them had a noose ready to use! They were all quite surprised to not find any code or panel with a puzzle on it. This was the puzzle phase, how come there wasn't any? Those small rooms couldn't be considered as puzzles, there was literally nothing in those! They even looked for hidden doors and hidden staircases going down but there weren't any. Random doors with nothing in their rooms couldn't be considered as puzzle. Well at least, nothing was leaping out of the room to kill them.

They arrived at the last door of the hallway. The opening leading to the main hall was only a little dot in the distance. Hiroshi put his hand on the knob and twisted it. As expected, the door opened. It was now easy to recognize the locked doors from the other ones; there were silver keyholes only on the locked doors. The other ones only had a rusty knob. The boys stepped in, noticing this room was actually bigger than the others. There was a wide cavern-like tunnel leading to who know where. The idea of getting out by this tunnel made their hearts beat faster. They advanced in the corridor rather rapidly and ended in a much larger room. Since it was quite dark, Hiroshi took out the lighter and turned it on. He looked on his right and saw a panel with spikes on it slowly spin.

"Duck!" he shouted.

Just when they ducked, the panel smashed the other wall and came back to its original place. The boys got back in the tunnel and stared in disbelief at the room. If they hadn't ducked in time, their heads would be crushed by now. Maybe that's why the other rooms were totally empty; to make them think they were safe there too! There were probably other traps here and there in the other corridors. Hiroshi glanced at the panel that had stopped spinning before getting out with the two other boys. They'd have to be careful; there were surely other traps in the next hallways. The boys got back in the main hall, walked in the second corridor and looked in every room again, being more careful this time. Again, there was nothing special here except a room with six wooden dolls on the floor. The gray-haired had to admit that they looked rather creepy with their white eyes and their weird smiles. When they opened the last door of the hallway, they faced another tunnel. No way they were all going in and risk their lives if it was another trap!

"Stay here, I'll go see if it's the exit." said Hiroshi to the others.

He then walked in the tunnel toward the really dark room ahead. When he reached the black floor, he hesitated. Maybe he should get back. He saw a white dot not so far away in front of him. It looked like daylight. The teen ran toward it, hoping this was the exit. He noticed the light began to fade when he ran toward it. It didn't take more than ten seconds before the light had completely disappeared, leaving him in complete darkness. Complete? No… He could see his hands like if he was outside during a sunny day. However, he didn't see anything around him. It was like if he stood on nothing at all. He turned to head back in the tunnel but he didn't see it. Only black could be seen. He closed his eyes tight and shook his head violently.

_I'm surely_—

His thoughts were cut when he saw the river in the forest near his house in front of him. He was standing on the flat rocks. The tall trees stood behind him, taking the sun's light to turn the dark green leaves into bright green leaves.

…_hallucinating._

He noticed he wasn't alone. Somebody was seated on the large rock: Rin. She turned toward him and smiled. The teen's mind went completely blank at the sight of her smile. Hiroshi's legs brought him to the rock and he sat next to the girl. She gently took his hand and looked at him in the eyes, smiling warmly. She gave him a kiss on the cheek. Hiroshi couldn't help but lightly blush.

"Rin, I—"

"Shh…" She said, putting her index on his lips.

Two martins flew off a tree and flew in circles, like if they were playing tag. The birds then got away, signing a short melody on the way. Rin looked at them until she couldn't see them anymore. She loved birds, especially martins. She rested her head on Hiroshi's shoulder and closed her eyes. The gray-haired put his head on hers before closing his eyes too and passing an arm around her waist. They stayed like that for a long moment in silence, holding hands. Hiroshi wanted to stay like this forever.

"Hiroshi," she asked, "will you stay with me?"

The word found its way out of his mouth without any warnings.

* * *

Takeshi and Kazuya were sitting silently in the hallway, waiting for Hiroshi to come back. The child had his eyes closed. He was about to fall asleep again but, knowing it wasn't a really good idea to do so, he forced his eyelids to open. He rubbed his eyes to wake himself up and made a slightly stronger shiver.

"Why were you sad when I asked your sister's name?" asked Kazuya, rubbing his own arms to warm himself up.

The blonde stayed a bit surprised at the question since he had no idea what to answer. Should he lie? Should he tell the truth? He found a sort of compromise.

"I miss her, that's all." he replied.

The child smiled.

"Don't be so sad." said the boy, "Once we get out of here, you will see her again!"

"That's not _that_ simple…" Let out Takeshi, soon regretting his words.

"Are your parents divorced?"

The blonde frowned. What was that question for?

"Uh, yeah, why?"

"The parents of one of my friends are divorced. He keeps saying it's complicated." the silver-haired said.

Takeshi smiled. At least, he thought about another definition of_ it's complicated_. He had no clue she was dead. The two stayed in an awkward silence for a moment until the boy spoke up again.

"Where is your friend?"

"You mean, Naoki?"

The child nodded.

"Oh… Um…" Takeshi tried to start, passing a hand behind his neck.

He looked at the shivering child for a short moment. He really was like his sister. He had those same big blue innocent eyes regardless of the dark circles under Kazuya's, the same pale skin, that same curiosity for unimportant things like a simple name. He opened his mouth to answer Kazuya's question but a door a bit farther in the hallway opened. A rather tall teen walked out and closed the door behind. His skin had a purple tint and his eyes were completely black but the blonde still recognized him.

"Naoki!?"

* * *

**Cliffhanger? I'm so bad at cliffhangers... XD  
I got nothing more to say so please leave a review and see you next chapter!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"No." Hiroshi said quietly while standing up.

"Why?" she asked.

"I just can't."

He turned toward the trees and walked away. This was an illusion. He shouldn't succumb to this.

"Hiroshi! Come back! Please!" she insisted.

He didn't turn back. The only way to get out of this illusion was to fight it. He noticed the sky started to have a red tint and that the sun seemed to turn black.

"Don't go!" she pleaded.

The gray-haired felt his heart tightening. Her desperate tone made him want to go back to her, hug her and whisper in her ear how much he loved her. He bit the inside of his cheek to resist to the temptation of turning back. He heard quick steps running towards him. He turned toward the sound just before Rin pushed him on the ground. Her eyes had turned black with a red pupil and tears of blood were running down her white-as-a-corpse skin. She put her hand on his neck, her long and sharp fingernails slowly piercing through his skin. The trees' leaves turned black and rain started to fall; the drops were drops of blood.

"Stay with me…" Rin said with a high-pitched, a normal and an extremely low-pitched voice at the same time.

As she was saying this, a black liquid fell from her mouth and landed on Hiroshi's face. He screamed at the pain. He felt like this thing was making his skin melt.

* * *

Naoki didn't speak as he was looking at the two boys. He raised his hand toward them, showing them his palm with another black eye in it. The eye in his hand turned red and the vision of the two boys darkened.

XXX

Kazuya found himself in his room, in his house. Blood was splashed on the walls and the faint lights were flickering. The door opened and Hiroshi came in. The child stood up to join him but stopped in his track seeing that his older brother looked weird. It wasn't really the appearance; it was the expression. It was like he didn't feel anything at all. The teen took out the lighter and turned it on before taking out the plate shard too. The gray-haired seemed to be listening to something. He then suddenly threw the lighter on the boy who screamed when the flame put his shirt on fire, also burning the skin. The silver-haired tried to put out the fire but it only grew more, setting his whole body on fire. His legs gave up and he fell on the floor, curling in a ball and screaming in pain. He looked at Hiroshi who only stared at him; his face was feeling-less.

XXX

Naoki leaped on the screaming child who fell on the floor. The black-haired's fingernails grew until they were ten centimeters long. He stuffed one of them in the child's throat.

"You're too loud." said the black-haired with a hoarse voice.

Kazuya felt a sharp pain in his throat, snapping him out of the illusion he had been forced in. He wanted to scream but no sound came out, only more pain.

XXX

Takeshi couldn't move at all. He saw his sister with a rope tied tight around her wrist and the other extremity tied around a round door knob. Misaki was panicking and trying to untie the rope. Heavy steps were getting closer to the room she was stuck in. Tears started to fall down her eyes and her hands began shaking uncontrollably, making her moves even clumsier than they already were. The door opened and the beast walked in, looking at her with hungry eyes.

"Help!" she shouted, "Anyone, please!"

The demon grabbed her and pulled her closer, snapping the rope in two.

"Takeshi!" screamed the girl, covering her head with her arms that quickly got bitten off, making her own blood fall on her blonde hair and her face.

XXX

Takeshi's eyes filled with tears. She died in a very painful way. She called for him while she was agonizing, but he hadn't been there for her during the last seconds she was alive. He clenched his fist and quickly turned toward the black-haired who was aiming for Kazuya's heart with his long fingernails. The blonde jumped on Naoki and punched him repeatedly on the face, blinded by pure rage. Even though, tears were streaming down his eyes, his face showed no signs of sadness; only anger.

* * *

Hiroshi pulled away Rin's hand and pushed her away with his feet. He winced at the pain on his neck and took out the plate shard. The last thing he wanted to do was to fight Rin. But since it wasn't truly her, the teen could allow himself to do so. The girl jumped on him and he pushed her arms away before shoving the plate shard in her chest.

Everything became bright and beautiful again and she became the girl he knew. She stared at him in the eyes; her face seemed to be asking why he did that. The gray-haired knelt, still holding her. A tear rushed down her cheek.

"I still love you…" she whispered, closing her eyes.

Even though he knew she wasn't the real Rin, he couldn't contain his tears. He couldn't stand seeing her like this, her body limp and her face lifeless. The forest slowly faded away with Rin, leaving him in the black space, holding the plate shard. He spotted the tunnel a bit farther. He made it; he was back into the reality. He ran back in the tunnel and came back in the hallway.

He found a covered in blood Takeshi down a bit farther and Naoki strangling Kazuya. Since he already had the plate shard in hand, Hiroshi leaped on the black-haired who let go of the child. The gray-haired didn't wait a second and stabbed Naoki multiple times before stabbing him in the head. The black-haired stopped moving. Something had probably weakened the transformed teen because his movements had been really limp and low. The gray-haired turned toward his brother and approached the shivering boy who backed away when the teen took a step closer, a terrified look on his face.

"Kazuya, what's wrong?" asked Hiroshi, concerned.

The child didn't answer. The gray-haired looked down to see that his clothes and his hands were covered in blood. One thing was sure, his clothes were done for. He rubbed his hands to remove the dry blood before approaching the boy again who whimpered and closed his eyes when the teen knelt just in front of him.

"Did he hurt you?" asked the gray-haired.

Kazuya found the courage to open his eyes and lightly nod. He then opened his mouth to say something but the only thing that found its way out was a hoarse whimper and blood. Hiroshi wiped away the blood.

"Try to not talk too much, okay?" he said.

The child nodded and looked at Takeshi's limp body, tears starting to fall down his eyes. The teen followed his brother's gaze and locked his eyes on the blonde too. His eyes were both closed, his shirt was stained in red and his fists were completely red. Whatever happened to him, he didn't leave without a fight.

_You will see your sister again, Takeshi. I know you'll soon find her._

Hiroshi stood up, helped his brother do the same and grabbed his hand before they walked toward the main hall. They headed in the third corridor and walked a bit without looking in any rooms on the sides; they both didn't feel like exploring and searching. A voice behind their back made them turn.

"I was waiting for you…" they heard Takero say.

Kaori was with him, glaring at them with a defying look.

"Where are your two friends?" she asked mockingly.

When she saw they didn't answer, she smirked.

"Oh, I see now. Poor you, I'm sure this makes you sooo depressed…" she said sarcastically.

"Hiroshi," added Takero, "you look pretty fierce for once. Where did you get all that blood on your face?"

The gray-haired couldn't help but pass a hand on his cheek where he felt the dry blood. The two other teens laughed at his reaction. Kaori bent towards Kazuya.

"I bet he wants to look terrifying so you can scream louder when he kills you." teased Kaori.

The child shivered, remembering that vision he had earlier. Those feeling-less eyes were terrifying. The girl then noticed the golden key that had gotten out of the boy's shirt.

"Takero, there's the key!" she exclaimed.

Without any warnings, she removed the key from his neck and pulled him closer.

"You're coming with us." said Takero, raising the metal stick they had gotten back in the previous phase.

Knowing Kaori would hurt his brother if he tried anything, he kept his palms up and opened, showing he wasn't holding anything and that he surrendered. The two other teens lead them at the end of the corridor where there was a door with a golden keyhole.

"Where did you get that key?" asked the gray-haired.

Kazuya showed a two with his index and middle finger.

"Two hours ago?"

The child shook his head.

"Two phases ago?"

The boy nodded.

"Shut up, you two!" Kaori said, inserting the key in the keyhole.

She turned the key and the lock made a sound indicating the door was now unlocked. She smiled and released Kazuya who joined his brother near the wall.

"Can't wait to see your weepy goodbyes!" teased Takero when the girl opened the door.

Her eyes widened and before she could react, a boulder surrounded by fire smashed her head, tearing it off the rest of her body. All of the locked doors in the hallway suddenly opened, shooting boulders that broke on the wall, spreading flames on the wall and the floor. Another one fell from the ceiling right in front of the door they had just unlocked. Hiroshi and Kazuya backed away just in time to dodge the flames, but Takero had already disappeared. The boys ran out of the hallway, dodging the fire. They stopped in the main hall to breathe a bit. Kazuya started shivering and hugged his brother in fear, ignoring that the gray-haired's clothes were covered in blood. Somehow, the fire couldn't reach the hall. The teen put a hand on the silver-haired's head for comfort. This might be their last move; they had to make the good one. He closed his eyes and tried to visualize. If he was a demon trying to keep its victims inside by a sort of game, where would he put the exit? A place they wouldn't dare to go. Everywhere could work here since there was fire in every hallway. Realization then hit him. The first boulder. It made the other ones go and another one fell in front of the door, the demon wanted them to go everywhere but in this door. The teen picked up his terrified brother and ran back in the third hallway.

* * *

**Eeek! There's like 2 or 3 chapter left!**

**Leave a review and see you in next chapter!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

The gray-haired ran down the corridor, dodging the flames the best he could or sprinting through them if he didn't have any choice. Kazuya didn't dare to open his eyes and kept his face hidden. It was a bit odd; the child wasn't scared of fire, normally. In fact, he always wanted to use a lighter but of course, his parents would always refuse so he wouldn't get hurt. Hiroshi could understand that he was frightened by the hot flames but at the point of crying? That was rather strange.

They reached the still opened door and rushed in. There was another door a bit farther. The teen expected it to be locked for some reason. Probably because there had been a lot of locked doors during this phase. He twisted the knob and got in the next room, closing the door behind. He set Kazuya on the ground since his arms were a bit tired. The child looked around and sighed in relief seeing there wasn't any fire nearby. The gray-haired took the lead and walked down the corridor. He noticed the floor had a thick line before there was a sharp turn. Hiroshi followed where the corridor was leading him and he found Takero in front of a code pad next to a heavy-looking and slightly bigger door. The gray-haired tried a code and a low-pitched "beep" was heard. He punched the wall in anger.

"Shit!" he let out, clenching his teeth.

The two other boys took a step closer. The line quickly rose from the floor and entered the ceiling, trapping them. Takero turned, alarmed by the noise and made an angry frown when he saw the brothers.

"You _again_? Can't you just die already?" he said.

Hiroshi preferred staying calm.

"Look, we're only three left. Shouldn't we just unlock this door and get out? That would be more logical. Beat me up at home if you want but not now." The gray-haired said with a surprisingly calm tone.

"Fuck you!" replied Takero, apparently not capable of being calm, "How can you be so calm after seeing a head getting smashed off!?"

Hiroshi realized that the red-haired was almost crying; it was pretty obvious that he was struggling to keep the tears in his eyes. The gray-haired couldn't help but ask a pretty stupid question for the situation they were in.

"Did you… Love her?"

Takero was about to reply something—probably not an answer to Hiroshi's question—but a high pitched sound rang in their ears. The boys pressed their hands on their ears but the sound found its way to their eardrums, bringing an immediate headache. The sound quickly became unbearable and the two teens—the child not able to scream at all—soon screamed in pain, praying for the sound to stop.

Kazuya looked up at the code pad. He had to unlock that door or that sound would kill them! A code… A code… He suddenly remembered the code Hiroshi and he found in the second survival phase with the soroban. He risked to remove a hand from his ear but immediately put it back on. He glanced at his older brother. Hiroshi endured a lot of pain for him; it was his turn to do something! He removed his hand from his ear and tapped the code.

9728

The light at the corner of the pad flashed red. The child tried again. He was hesitating only at the second number but he knew it was a number bigger than five and different from the two others, he had one choice left.

9628

The light flashed green. The sound finally stopped. The boys uncovered their ears and looked up to see the heavy-looking door slowly open, revealing a cavern-like tunnel with a rope ladder at the very end. They could hear rain falling in the tunnel! For a moment, the three of them only stared at the ladder in disbelief. Hiroshi snapped out of his observation when he heard a loud sound on the wall behind, where the floor had raised. He turned and saw a couple of small cracks forming on the wall. The gray-haired immediately stood up and helped his brother to get up while the red-haired stayed on the floor, too startled to react properly. Hiroshi ran in the tunnel when the cracks got wider. He stopped in his track, remembering Hiroto's words.

_Oh, and don't ever abandon someone. Or you'll regret it for the rest of your life._

He was about to abandon Takero.

"Kazuya, go! I'll join you later!" he said to his brother who only nodded before running toward the exit.

The teen ran back in the room and grabbed Takero's arm.

"C'mon! We have to go!" he shouted to the other teen who regained his senses and stood up.

When they reached the tunnel, the wall broke into pieces, letting the beast come in. It immediately spotted the two teens running away. Hiroshi turned to see the demon and forced his legs to run faster. He saw Kazuya waiting for him at the rope ladder.

"Go!" he shouted to his brother.

The boy seemed to hesitate before climbing up the ladder. Takero tripped, his ankle twisting in an unnatural way. He got up and ran as fast as he could but he was still seriously limping. Hiroshi stopped when he realized a pretty good distance was separating the red-haired and him. He was just about to go and help him run when the beast grabbed the other teen by the legs. It opened its mouth and raised Takuro like if he was a treat to give to a dog. Takero screamed when the beast dropped him, making him fall right in its mouth. It closed its mouth and a whole lot of blood splashed out of it, soaking the floor.

The gray-haired quickly turned away and darted toward the rope ladder. He started climbing before a hand grabbed him, pulling him away from the ladder. He felt a sharp pain in his stomach, making him scream. He opened his eyes; he couldn't see anything but red and a black eye staring at him. He grunted when the demon dropped him, letting him fall on the hard rocks forming the floor. He felt like he was dragged and he lost consciousness for a couple of seconds. The pain was much worse when he woke up. He felt like his stomach was going to split in two and let go of his legs. He moaned and blacked out again for a minute. He opened his eyes when he felt cold drops falling on him; they were outside and his back was leaned on something hard and cold, putting him in a sitting position. Even though his vision was blurry, he saw a camera on a tree a little farther and his little brother take off his scarf and press it on his stomach. He moaned and a tear fell down his eye.

"Kazuya…" he asked quietly, "Were you the one who opened the door?"

The child looked at him with a worried face and nodded. The teen smiled.

"Thank you…" he said before closing his eyes.

He felt the silver-haired's small hand on his shoulder. Hiroshi forced himself to open his eyes again and he blinked a couple of times to see clearer. He saw the blood on the child's forehead. It had flown on his eye and down to the bottom of his cheek. The tears falling down his eyes were leaving a blank line in the middle of the blood passing on his eye. The gray-haired raised his hand and put it on the boy's cheek.

"Are you alright?" he asked before wincing at the pain coming from his stomach.

Kazuya nodded. Hiroshi started to cough before he felt some blood fall on his chin. His arm fell limply on his side and breathing began to be something difficult to do. Still, he smiled.

"I promised I'd get you out of there…"

He coughed a couple of times again. The child felt a ball forming in his throat. He pulled the gray-haired into a tight hug.

"Don't… leave… me…" he said with a hoarse voice.

The boy then started sobbing. Hiroshi was so cold; he wanted to warm his brother up even though he was also cold. He closed his eyes tight, trying to control the sobs and the tears that kept coming.

"Don't… die…" he pleaded, a drop of blood escaping from his lips.

Hiroshi forced his arms to move and hug the boy back.

"You shouldn't talk…" he whispered.

The teen felt a great pain in his stomach before his arms gave up and fell on the wet ground. The gray-haired coughed some blood.

"Kazuya…" he said quietly, his voice quivering, "I won't last long."

He felt his little brother shake his head but he still continued what he had to say.

"Promise me you'll take care of mom and dad once you're recovered, okay? They'll need you."

Hiroshi took a small break to breathe a bit. The boy didn't answer. The gray-haired's eyelids became heavy and he took deeper breaths even though they were painful to take.

"Tell Rin I love her."

He coughed and closed his eyes, unable to keep them open anymore.

"Don't let this demon win. You're stronger than that, I know it. Never give up, Kazuya, promise?"

"Promise." answered the child with his faint voice.

"Even if I'm not there anymore, I'll still protect you."

The silver-haired didn't let go of his brother even if he stopped hearing his breathing. He saw a large car arrive. Three masked men and two doctors came out of the car. One of them removed his black mask, revealing the boys' dad. Kazuya didn't notice it because his vision was too blurry to distinguish clearly faces. The child started to feel seriously tired too. When one of the doctors strongly but gently pulled him away from his brother, his body became limp. The tears still didn't stop falling down as he was looking at the doctor examining Hiroshi, who raised his head and slowly shook it.

"Hi… ro… shi…" he let out before everything became black around him.

* * *

**It was kinda hard for me to write that last part... **

**Please leave a review and see you in the ultimate chapter!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

It was dark in there. He could still see but it wasn't so easy. Kazuya slowly walked down the long corridor, trying to be as silent as possible. He was crying and he didn't even know why. He turned and saw a shadow getting bigger while loud steps seemed to come closer; it had found him. The child started to run but he couldn't go very fast; his legs were so heavy. He got grabbed and forced to look behind him. It was the demon with its huge black eyes and his dozens of teeth where a crushed head lay. The beast threw him on the room's wall at the end of the corridor, making him fall on the hard floor. When he got on all four, Ryota leaped on him with the plate shard and stabbed him. The boy put his hands in front of his face to protect himself and closed his eyes. When he reopened them, he was the one holding the plate shard in Hiroshi's chest. The teen stared at him for a moment, wincing at the pain before falling on the ground. Kazuya tried to reanimate his brother but only more blood came out of the injury. The child looked at his hands and started shivering uncontrollably; they were covered with Hiroshi's blood. Voices immediately came to his ears.

_Murderer_

The boy shook his head, trying to convince himself but the voices continued saying the scary word.

_Murderer_

"It was an accident!" he shouted to the voices.

It didn't stop them.

_Murderer_

The child covered his ears but the voices found their way in his mind, repeating the word.

_Murderer_

"No…" he whispered, tears streaming down his eyes.

_Murderer_

He killed Hiroshi. He didn't do anything while he was bleeding out. It was his fault. He joined the voices.

_Murderer_

* * *

Kazuya's eyes opened wide and he sat up in the bed. He winced at the pain in his whole body. He looked around in confusion; he didn't recognize this place at all. The bed he was in was in the corner of the small room and a night table stood right next to it with some weird machines. A closet was in the other corner with two chairs next to it. He looked at his hands. There was a thin bandage covering them. His painful body forced him to lie down. He stayed like that, his mind completely blank, listening to the regular_ beep_ of one of the machines. He closed his eyes, feeling sleepy. He slowly drifted away and fell asleep.

* * *

"Kazuya, when I tell you, you run in the next room and hide in the closet." Hiroshi said.

"But…"

"Do as I say. I don't want you to get hurt."

The steps came closer and they stopped right in front of the door. The door opened, letting the beast come in.

"NOW!" shouted the teen, putting himself between Kazuya and the demon.

The child ran toward the door, dodged the hand that tried to grab him and darted to the next room. He passed in front of a large corridor that would lead him in the main hall and opened the door leading in the room he needed to go in. He ran to the closet, crawled in and closed the double door. He forced his heart to beat slower and took deep breaths to calm down. He snuggled in the corner of the closet. The door to the room opened and light steps came closer. The closet opened, revealing a purple-skinned Hiroshi with black eyes.

* * *

Kazuya yelped when he woke up. Actually, it was more a release of air but if he had a voice it would've been a yelp. He looked around to realize it was the same room than the last time he woke up. He noticed the _beeps_ were a bit faster than before he fell asleep. He saw someone sitting on a chair near the bed. It was his mom who was sleeping on the chair. The child couldn't hold back his tears when he saw her. He forced his body to sit up even if it complained soon after. He put his arms around Etsuko and closed his eyes. She woke up and smiled when she saw him snuggling closer to her. She took him in her lap and hugged her son, struggling to keep the tears inside her eyes. She heard him sob.

"Shh…" she said quietly, gently stroking his hair, "It's okay. It's all over now. You're safe."

Etsuko started to cry silently. Yes, he was safe.

Kazuya looked at his mother. He tried to ask why she was crying but no voice came out no matter how much he tried. He wiped away one of her tears with his thumb and let his head fall on her shoulder. They closed their eyes but didn't fall asleep. Etsuko kissed the boy on the forehead and swayed back and forth, comforting her child.

She couldn't help but think about Hiroshi. He had kept his promise, but he also gave away his life to keep it. She was at the hospital when they brought in her boys. Her husband too, since he had been designated to pick the survivors up if there were any. She remembered his serious face and his sad eyes when he came in. She immediately felt like it was going to be the last time she'd ever see one of her sons. She got closer to the stretchers. The sight she had made her gasp and cover her mouth. They were both way too thin, their cheeks were hollow and they were covered by small bites. Kazuya's face was distorted by pain and he kept shivering. Almost all his face had blood on it and his hands had an unnatural dark color. Hiroshi's face was completely motion-less. Not a wince, not a frown; nothing. There was blood literally _everywhere_ on him. His clothes, his face, his hands, even his hair had turned red at some places! She then felt her husband's arm get wrapped around her and she hid her face in his uniform, not able to see her children like that. When she dared to look up, the doctors were already far in the corridor, heading in a special room. They were forced to stay outside the room, both worried about their sons. A doctor came out an hour later. Etsuko immediately asked him if her kids were alright. She perfectly remembered the exact words during their short exchange.

"_The younger one will not be able to talk again but he'll be fine."_

She felt extremely bad knowing Kazuya was now mute but she was relieved at the same time knowing he was alright.

"_What about the other one?"_

She remembered that he looked down and sighed.

"_He lost too much blood; there was nothing we could do. I'm sorry."_

The news made her feel extremely dizzy. She sank in a chair and started sobbing.

Thinking about this moment brought the tears back in her eyes but she blinked them away. The silver-haired reopened his eyes too with the urge to ask her a question. He noticed a notepad and a pencil on his night table. He stretched his arm to grab them and started writing his question. He showed the paper to his mom who read the clumsily written words.

**Why can't I talk?**

The question seemed to stab her in the chest. She didn't know what to answer. His vocal chords had been severely pierced; the only thing the doctors were able to do was remove them completely so it wouldn't be painful. One thing was sure; she wasn't lying to him nor telling him_ I don't know_.

"Something really bad happened in your throat." she said.

Kazuya wrote down another question below the one he already asked and showed it to his mom.

**Will I talk again?**

Etsuko never thought it would be so hard to make a head movement. She shook her head as a _no_ and felt a ball grow in her throat. The child looked down, having no idea what to think about that. He could still write but… He decided to write one last question down, hoping by all his heart to be answered with a _yes._

**Is Hiroshi okay?**

Seeing his mom's expression, the boy immediately knew the answer was a _no_. Kazuya dropped the notepad and the pencil and started sobbing, understanding he'd never see Hiroshi again. Hiroshi gave his life for him but what did _he_ do for Hiroshi? Nothing. He kept running, hiding and crying while Hiroshi did all the job! He started to hate himself for that. He could've done something when his brother was bleeding out, he could've tried to stop the bleeding but what did he do instead? Put Hiroshi's beloved scarf on it and cry. He couldn't do anything but cry; he was still crying right now! He wanted to die. Right now, right here. He then remembered Hiroshi's words.

_Don't let this demon win. You're stronger than that, I know it. Never give up, Kazuya, promise?_

There was one last thing he could do for Hiroshi. Keep his promise. If his brother had been able to keep a promise, he should at least try to keep his!

* * *

He did see Hiroshi again—other than in his nightmare where he'd die or kill him—but he wasn't able to look at him. He never thought he'd see his brother lying in a coffin but it was happening right now. The child was sitting on a chair while his parents were talking with people from town. Some of them tried to comfort him—it didn't really work—while others would just look at him with sympathy.

He saw Shun, Shura and Rin enter the funeral home. Remembering one of Hiroshi's lasts requests, he stood up and gently tapped his mom's arm. She turned and he mimicked writing on a paper.

"I think there's a note pad there." she said, pointing at a desk.

The boy put his hand to his lips and away—that was how to say _thank you _in sign language—before he darted to the desk. His parents and he had started to learn sign language a couple of weeks ago. He didn't know a lot of things put he knew the basics. She was right; there was a small notepad on it. He took it and grabbed a pen, hoping it was working. He quickly wrote something on it but he was being careful with his writing; he absolutely wanted her to be able to read it. He stood in front of his chair, waiting for her to come closer. When she walked away from his brother's coffin, the boy didn't even let her approach his parents that he was already gently tapping her shoulder. She looked down and he showed the paper.

**Hiroshi loved you too**

Rin gasped and covered her mouth and her nose with her hand. Tears found their way out and she began crying. Shura hugged her friend while Shun sadly stared at the paper until Kazuya lowered it and looked down, a bit ashamed of making her cry.

When he saw Hiroto enter the funeral home, the child stared at the floor. He couldn't help but wonder how Hiroshi had been able to look at him in the eye for more than a second. The conversations slowly stopped when people saw the scarred adult. He immediately received polite greetings and handshakes before the conversations slowly started again. Hiroto walked up to the coffin and looked at the teen. He closed his eye for a moment, making a silent prayer. He then turned toward Kazuya and approached him. The child finally dared to look up when the adult crouched to be the same height than the boy. The silver-haired picked up the pen and wrote down something on the paper without even realizing it.

**It's not fair  
****We got out, why did he die?  
****He did all the job and I'm the one who is alive, why?**

Hiroto sighed; he didn't really know where and how to start. He wished he was good with kids.

"He wanted to protect you. I saw it in his eyes when I saw him. I knew he would do everything to save you. He died in a heroic way."

**I watched him die and I didn't do anything that could save him!**

"False. I saw everything. You tried to stop the bleeding using his scarf. You were out of this mansion and you got back in to drag him out. Don't you realize it? You pulled out someone twice your size! I've been in there too; I know what you had to deal with and believe me, _this_ was true bravery."

The boy didn't answer, the pen staying still on the notepad. Hiroto put his hand on his shoulder, a gesture that the child found very soothing.

"You tried everything, Kazuya."

The silver-haired's vision got blurry as he said something—the words obviously not coming out of his throat—and started sobbing.

_But it still wasn't enough!_

Hiroto remembered his days at the mansion, when _that_ girl died because she stayed behind to slow the beast down. He remembered how much he cried, blaming himself for that. Not thinking, the adult pulled the silently crying boy into a hug.

Once Kazuya had calmed down, Hiroto pulled away. Before he could say anything, the priest came in front of the coffin and said a couple of prayers for Hiroshi. They stood up. Etsuko and her husband then came at the front and shared good memories, talked about their son in a more general way and pronounced wishes for him. They backed away a bit and the priest put a hand on the coffin's lid.

Kazuya stared one last time at Hiroshi while they closed the coffin. He then looked down at the notebook. He wrote down something and showed it to Hiroto.

**I don't want it to be the last time I see him.  
**  
The adult crouched.

"It's not the last time." he whispered to the boy, "Close your eyes."

The silver-haired obeyed and closed his eyes.

"Do you see him, now?"

The child nodded. He could see him and he wasn't holding a bloody plate shard or wincing in pain. He was there, smiling at him. The boy opened his eyes and smiled to Hiroto.

"He's always there, looking after you; you just need to realize he's there." added the adult.

Kazuya then remembered his brother's very last words.

_Even if I'm not there anymore, I'll still protect you._

* * *

**I can't believe it... I finished the story...  
**

**Thanks to anyone who read this story! Don't be shy and leave a review, it helps me out even if the story is finished!**

**Also, I know I said it in the first chapter but I'm saying it again:  
Special thanks to Datlittlestar for making the idea spark in my mind, giving me a great title and reviewing!**

...

And may the Onis be ever in your favor.  
(The story sparked in my mind because of that phrase)


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